How to check Copilot visibility

How do I check if Copilot mentions my business?

Run a MentionChecker check: enter your website, pick Copilot and a country, read the report. Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI engine: you type a question at copilot.microsoft.com or in the Copilot app and it answers in text. Copilot is in the paid check, from $9 with no subscription. MentionChecker is a pay-as-you-go AI visibility checker. It asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot the questions people ask about what you do, and tells you whether your brand is mentioned in the answers.

1. Enter your website at mentionchecker.com. The check reads it and proposes about a dozen questions people ask about what you do, so a CRM gets the questions a startup asks about CRMs and a speaker brand gets questions about speakers. Approve them, or change them and add your own: the same set asked every time is what makes the next check comparable.
2. Pick Copilot and any of the other AI engines you want in the same check, pick the country the questions should be asked from, and run it.
3. Read the Copilot visibility report: every answer Copilot gave, word for word, with your name marked wherever it appears.

What does a Copilot visibility report show?

Four things about the questions the check asked: how often Copilot mentioned you, on which questions, who was mentioned instead of you and how they rank in Copilot, and which websites the answers cited. Every number opens to the answer it came from. The three numbers at the top of the report are the share of answers that mentioned you, your share of voice among every mention of every name, and your average rank across the answers that listed names in order. A mention is your brand's name in the words of an answer, and a citation is a link listed below the answer to a page it was built from.

Run the same check again later to track your brand in Copilot: AI visibility tracking shows which questions you gained, which you lost, and who moved, and every report has a link you can send to anyone without a login.

Where does Copilot get its answers and citations from?

From Bing's index, for the answers that searched. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say Bing and Copilot rely on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). Microsoft's Transparency Note says that for conversations where a person is looking for information, Copilot is grounded in web search results, builds the response on high-ranking pages from the web, and lists hyperlinked citations below the text (Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals), read on 21 September 2026). Ask Copilot for the best noise cancelling headphones for working from home and you get a short list, a line on each, and the pages it read listed underneath. For that question they are reviews from RTINGS, TechRadar and CNET, a Wired roundup, a Reddit thread, and one of the makers' own websites.

On 18 September 2026 we asked Copilot four everyday questions and counted the citations under each answer: five for a puzzle game, three lists of puzzle games on other sites and two of the games' own sites, five for a tree-planting charity, four lists of tree-planting charities on other sites and one charity's own site, and none at all for the two local services, each answered instead with a table of businesses with a rating, a review count and a phone number.

The MentionChecker report keeps the Copilot citations under the answer they came with, so the pages to get onto are listed in your report.

How to improve Copilot visibility

Start from the sources list in your report: the pages under the answers that mentioned someone else are the ones to get onto, so open them, a review from a technology site, a roundup, a Reddit thread, and see whether you are on them at all. If Copilot mentioned you, open the page it cited beside your name and check that what it says about you is current. If what you do is local, both local questions above came back with no citations at all, a table of businesses with a rating, a review count and a phone number in their place, so there is no page under the answer to get onto. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say a page must be crawlable by Bingbot to be used in Copilot responses and that clear and consistent naming of organisations, products and locations improves citation accuracy (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). The check marks your name in the table either way, so you see whether you are listed.

The check does not change what Copilot says and does not write anything for you.

How to get recommended by Copilot

Get onto the pages your report lists as Copilot citations, then read your own website as a stranger would and check that it says plainly what you do, where, and for whom. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines add that a page carrying a noindex or noarchive directive is left out of Copilot responses, and that nothing guarantees a citation (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). Then run the same Copilot visibility check again and the report shows whether you are recommended by Copilot now and what moved.

Asking Copilot yourself vs a Copilot visibility check

One chat is one answer, and it is your answer, not a stranger's. What Copilot shows you depends on your own account: the questions you have asked before, where you are, and what it remembers about you, and the stranger who gets the other answer is the person deciding whether to choose you. Microsoft's own page says Copilot can remember key details and preferences from your conversations, that your use of Bing, Edge and MSN on the same Microsoft account can be used to personalise it, and that it keeps your prior conversations (Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choices, read on 21 September 2026). Its privacy statement says Copilot uses your questions, location, language and related settings to respond (Microsoft Privacy Statement, read on 21 September 2026). Turning the Saved memories toggle off, which the same privacy controls page describes (Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choices, read on 21 September 2026), gets you closer to a stranger's answer, but Copilot still answers from where you are, and the chat is still one answer, with no count of who else was mentioned.

Run the Copilot visibility check when the answer you need is the one a stranger gets: every line on the right is one report, one credit a question, and the smallest pack is $9.

What does a Copilot visibility check cost?

One question on one AI engine, asked once, is one credit. Copilot is not in the free check, which asks ChatGPT and Gemini. Credits last 12 months and there is no subscription. MentionChecker is a pay as you go AI visibility tracker, and every pack is listed on the pricing page.

What do people ask about checking Copilot?

Can I check if Copilot mentions my business for free?

The free MentionChecker check asks ChatGPT and Gemini. Copilot is in the paid check. One question on one AI engine is one credit: a check of 25 questions on Copilot, for example, is 25 credits, and the smallest pack is 50 credits for $9, enough for two checks of that size. Credits last 12 months and nothing renews.

Does Copilot give everyone the same answer?

No. Microsoft's page says Copilot can remember key details and preferences from your conversations, and that your use of Bing, Edge and MSN can personalise it (Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choices, read on 21 September 2026), so the answer you get is not the answer a stranger gets, and the stranger is the person deciding whether to choose you. MentionChecker asks Copilot as a stranger would, with no history, from the country you serve, every question at once, and keeps every answer.

Does Copilot remember my previous conversations?

With Saved memories on, yes. Microsoft's page says Copilot can remember key details and preferences from your conversations, such as your communication style, favourite topics, goals and recurring tasks, and that it keeps your prior conversations so you can continue them (Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choices, read on 21 September 2026). A chat in your own account carries that with it. MentionChecker asks Copilot with no history at all, so the report shows the answer a stranger gets.

What are Copilot citations?

The links under a Copilot answer. Microsoft's Transparency Note says that when an answer is grounded in data from the web, citations are listed below the text to the websites it used (Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals), read on 21 September 2026). For a question about a product they are reviews from technology sites, a roundup, a Reddit thread and one maker's own website. The MentionChecker report keeps every citation under the answer it came with, so you can see whether any of them is yours.

What does Copilot say about my business?

Whatever the answer said, word for word. A MentionChecker Copilot visibility check keeps every answer under the question it answered, with your name marked where it appears and the pages it cited beneath it, so you read how Copilot describes what you do one answer at a time: whether it recommended you, listed you among others, or got something wrong. No score is put on the wording. The same check run again shows whether the wording changed.

Does Copilot always search the web before answering?

No. Microsoft's Transparency Note says that for each question a determination is made whether it needs grounding data from the web, and that citations are listed below an answer when it is grounded in the web (Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals), read on 21 September 2026). On 18 September 2026 two of four questions came back with no citations. An answer with none leaves no page to go and get onto. The MentionChecker report shows which answers came with citations and which did not.

Does Copilot use Bing?

Yes. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say Bing and Copilot rely on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation, and that a page must be crawlable by Bingbot to be used in Copilot responses (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026), so the pages Copilot cites come from Bing's index. A MentionChecker report ranks every website Copilot cited by how many answers cited it, so you see which pages Bing is giving Copilot for the questions people ask about what you do.

Does Bing Webmaster Tools show which pages Copilot cited?

For your site, yes. Bing's AI Performance report shows how your content appears across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations: total citations, cited pages, grounding queries and a trend over time (Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview, read on 21 September 2026). It counts links to your pages, not mentions of your name, and says nothing about who Copilot recommends instead. A MentionChecker Copilot visibility check reads the answers and shows whether your name is in them and who was recommended instead.

Does Copilot send traffic to my website?

Through its citations. Microsoft's Transparency Note says the citations below a grounded answer are links people can click to visit the website (Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals), read on 21 September 2026), and Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say a page may appear in Copilot responses as an impression or a citation without a click (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). A MentionChecker Copilot visibility check shows whether your pages are among the citations: the report lists every website each answer cited.

Why does Copilot give a different answer each time I ask?

Because Copilot does not always search, and because the answer is yours. Microsoft's Transparency Note says a determination is made for each question whether it needs grounding data from the web, and that every response uses your recent conversation history (Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals), read on 21 September 2026), so one answer is one sample. A MentionChecker check asks many questions, and the same check a month later shows what changed, which no single answer can.

Can I see my competitors' Copilot ranking?

Yes. MentionChecker counts and ranks every brand Copilot mentioned across the questions it asked, so the report shows who is ahead of you and on which questions. The list comes from the answers themselves. You do not have to type in a list of competitors, and you can take any name out of the numbers.

How to rank in Copilot?

In a Copilot answer, rank is the order the names come in. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say Copilot relies on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation as Bing search, and that nothing guarantees a citation (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). A MentionChecker report gives your average rank across every question that mentioned you, so your Copilot ranking is a number you can compare from one check to the next.

Do I need to rank on Bing to be mentioned by Copilot?

You need to be in Bing's index. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say Copilot relies on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation as Bing search, that a page blocked for Bingbot or marked noindex is left out of Copilot responses, and that following them does not guarantee a citation (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). A MentionChecker check shows which questions Copilot answered with you in them, which with someone else, and the pages it cited, which are the ones to get onto.

Does Copilot cite Reddit?

Not on 18 September 2026: no Reddit threads among the five citations Copilot gave for a puzzle game or the five for a tree-planting charity, and nothing at all under the two local answers. Copilot's answer for the best noise cancelling headphones for working from home does cite one. In a MentionChecker report a Reddit thread is a page like any other: the sources list ranks reddit.com by how many answers cited it, and each citation stays under its answer.

What is Copilot SEO?

Copilot SEO, also called AI visibility or generative engine optimisation, is the work of getting your business into Copilot's answers. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines say the SEO practices that support discovery, indexing and clarity on Bing also support eligibility for citations in Copilot (Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read on 21 September 2026). A MentionChecker Copilot visibility check is the measure of where you stand before and after that work: whether Copilot mentions you, who it mentions instead, and which pages it cited.

Is Copilot in Edge and Microsoft 365 the same Copilot?

In Edge, yes. In Microsoft 365, no. Microsoft's privacy statement says the Copilot website and app are the core of the consumer Copilot, which appears in Edge and Xbox too, that Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps works on the content you provide in Word and Excel, and that enterprise customers have a section of their own (Microsoft Privacy Statement, read on 21 September 2026). A MentionChecker check asks the Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com, the one the public uses, so the report holds what a stranger is told about what you do.

Does Copilot give different answers in different countries?

Not on every question. Microsoft's privacy statement says Copilot uses your questions, location, language and related settings to respond (Microsoft Privacy Statement, read on 21 September 2026). On 18 September 2026 the same puzzle-game question asked from the United States and from the United Kingdom got the same seven titles and the same five citations from Copilot. MentionChecker asks Copilot from the country the people you serve are in, preselected from your web address, and a second country is a second check.

Does Copilot recommend local businesses?

Yes, as a table. On 18 September 2026 two local-service questions came back as tables of businesses with a rating, a review count and a phone number, and neither answer cited a single page. A MentionChecker check marks your name in each answer and keeps whatever was cited under it, so a local business sees whether it is in the table and whether there is any page under the answer to get onto.

Which questions should I check Copilot with?

The ones people ask before they choose: what the best options are for what you do, how you compare with a named alternative, and which one suits a particular case. A MentionChecker check reads your website and proposes about a dozen of them, so a payroll service gets the questions a small business asks about payroll. Approve them or add your own, and keep the same set every time, so the next Copilot visibility check is comparable.

How often should I check Copilot?

One Copilot visibility check tells you where you are today, and a second one tells you what has changed since. To track Copilot visibility over time, MentionChecker runs the same check daily, weekly or monthly from your balance, and each report shows what moved since the last one. Run one check first and decide from the result whether a monthly repeat is worth it.

Which AI engines can I check besides Copilot?

ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, and you choose which to include in each MentionChecker check. A check asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity unless you change the pick, and every engine you add to it costs one more credit for each question.