Bing Gives Publishers Separate Controls for AI Training and Grounding

Microsoft is giving publishers separate controls to opt out of AI training and AI search grounding, while preserving their eligibility to appear in traditional Bing search results. The distinction is the whole story: instead of forcing publishers to choose between being visible in search and being used by AI, Bing is letting them make those decisions separately, one for training and one for grounding, without losing their place in ordinary results.

Training versus grounding, explained

Training and grounding sound similar, but they describe different uses of publisher content. Training means using content to teach an AI model, shaping how it writes, reasons, and answers in general. Grounding means using content at answer time to support a specific response, so that an AI answer can cite or reflect a current source. A publisher might object to one use more than the other. Training feels permanent and diffuse: once content has shaped a model, it is hard to say where its influence ends. Grounding feels immediate and visible: the content is being used to answer a question right now, often with a citation. Separate controls recognise that these are different decisions, and that a publisher's answer to one need not dictate its answer to the other.

Why separate controls matter

Separate controls matter because bundled choices punish publishers either way. If a single switch controls both training and grounding, a publisher that objects only to training must also give up grounding visibility, or accept training use it opposes in order to stay visible. That is not a real choice. By splitting the controls, Bing lets a publisher say no to training while staying available for grounding, or no to grounding while remaining open to training, or no to both, or yes to both. Each combination reflects a different view of value: some publishers may see grounding as useful exposure, others may see it as a substitute for visits, and their choices should be able to reflect that difference without collateral damage.

Preserving traditional search eligibility

Preserving eligibility to appear in traditional Bing search results is the other half of the announcement, and it is just as important as the separation itself. In the past, publishers feared that opting out of any AI use would cost them their ordinary search presence, which for many sites is still the largest source of traffic. Bing's approach removes that fear for these controls: a publisher can opt out of AI training, or AI search grounding, or both, and still appear in traditional results. That guarantee changes the calculation. Opting out becomes a genuine strategic choice about AI, rather than a gamble with a site's core traffic. It also sets a useful precedent for how other platforms should design controls.

What publishers should weigh

Publishers weighing these controls should start from their business model, not from a general view about AI. A site that earns revenue from subscriptions may care most about training, because trained models can reproduce its expertise without sending subscribers. A site that earns revenue from advertising may care most about grounding, because a grounded answer can satisfy a reader without a click. A site that depends on being discovered may care most about preserving traditional eligibility, which Bing's approach protects. Publishers should also measure the effect of any change over time, comparing traffic, citations, and revenue before and after, rather than assuming an opt-out helps or hurts. Controls are only useful if their consequences are understood.

What it means for SEOs and link builders

For SEOs, Bing's separate controls add a new layer to technical strategy. A site's presence in Bing will soon need to be described in parts: traditional results, grounding, and training, each with its own setting and its own outcome. Audits should record those settings explicitly so that a traffic change can be traced to a control change rather than mistaken for a ranking change. For link builders, the announcement is another reminder that publisher relationships are becoming more negotiated and more specific. Publishers that can control how their content is used will expect the same precision from partners: clear attribution, honest descriptions, and content worth linking to. In that environment, original work and respectful outreach will keep outperforming volume.

Sources

Sources: Search Engine Land, October 30, 2026.