Rank Your Website on Google and Bing in 2026 (Real Data)

Table of Contents

• The numbers: where I'm starting from
• Step 1: From interests to keywords (the map of moments)
• Step 2: Don't open a shop, open a whole block
• Step 3: The storefront nobody looks at (the review cycle)
• Step 4: Two streets, not one (Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools)
• Step 5: IndexNow, the doorbell to announce you updated

  • How to implement it in 3 steps
  • Who is it key for?
• Step 6: AI citations, the neighbor who recommends you
• Checklist to get started this week
• Frequently asked questions

  • How long does it take for a website to rank?
  • Is it worth ranking on Bing if almost everyone uses Google?
  • Does IndexNow work for Google?
  • Why do I get lots of impressions but few clicks?
  • How do I know if AI is citing my site?
• Conclusion: being the right answer

The numbers: where I'm starting from

Before the theory, the data. Every article in this table started at zero clicks.

Site	Clicks	Impressions	Growth vs. previous period	Source
creacosas.com	562	53.3K	+1,981% in clicks	Google Search Console
leotransforma.co	295	45.6K	+5,800% in clicks	Google Search Console
hito.autos	13	3.39K	New site	Google Search Console
creacosas.com	649	26.9K (CTR 2.42%)	Last 3 months	Bing Webmaster Tools

These aren't the numbers of a big media outlet. They're the numbers of an independent blog applying a system. And I also show Hito, which is moving slowly, because a new site takes time and that's part of the story too.

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Step 1: From interests to keywords (the map of moments)

People don't search the way you describe your business. They search the way they describe their problem.

You say "AI content strategy". Your client types "prompts to create social media content". You say "messaging integration". Your client types "WhatsApp code for Colombia".

That's why my process doesn't start in a keyword tool, but on a blank sheet:

1. List of interests. Write down the five to ten topics around your brand. At Crea Cosas they are, for example, AI development tools, model pricing, AI agents and project management.
2. Moments of the day. Ask yourself when your client stumbles into each topic. In the morning they search quick doubts ("how do you spell prompt"). At work, solutions ("prompts for ads"). At night, decisions ("is OpenCode Go worth it?").
3. Literal searches. Write what the person would type at each moment, in their own words, typos included.
4. Validation. Only now, confirm with Search Console, with Bing or with the search engine's suggestions that those searches actually exist.

A real example: at Leo Transforma, the article "Cómo se escribe prompt (no es pront ni promt)" (Spanish for "How to spell prompt — it's not pront or promt") answers a spelling doubt that seems minor. But it already adds up to 30 clicks and it's the gateway to all the AI content on the site.

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Step 2: Don't open a shop, open a whole block

The most common mistake is writing one article per keyword and waiting for results.

Search engines check whether you have a page that answers a question, but also whether you're a reference on the topic. If you have several connected articles covering every doubt someone might have around a subject, the search engine understands that you know your stuff. This is often called topical authority. I explain it as opening an entire block instead of a single shop.

Here's what it looks like at Crea Cosas with OpenCode Go:

• OpenCode Go: usage limits and whether it's worth it. It's for whoever wants price and limits. The English version has 52 clicks and the Traditional Chinese version, 30.
• OpenCode Zen and Go: what you can do with 10 dollars. It's for whoever wants to know what the money gets them. The Traditional Chinese version has 33 clicks.
• Z.ai GLM vs OpenCode Go. It's for whoever is comparing. The English version has 22 clicks.

The data that surprised me the most: two of the five articles with the most clicks on the blog are in Traditional Chinese. Translating the article cluster is opening the same block in other neighborhoods of the city, where there's often less competition.

The same thing happened at Leo Transforma with prompts: "25 prompts de IA para crear contenido de redes" (105 clicks), "Prompts para crear anuncios que convierten" (30) and "Cómo se escribe prompt" (30). They link to each other and push each other up.

How to apply it: take a single interest from your list and write down the five to ten questions someone asks before, during and after: what it is, how much it costs, which one is best, how it's done, which mistakes to avoid. Each question is an article. Link them to each other.

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Step 3: The storefront nobody looks at (the review cycle)

Here comes the uncomfortable part: appearing is not the same as being chosen.

Look at this data from my own dashboards:

Search	Impressions	Clicks	CTR	Average position	Source
opencode go	6,300	16	0.26%	8.7	Bing
14 principios de fayol	497	21	4.23%	2.89	Bing
fayol	192	0	0%	7.34	Bing
14 principios de henry fayol	117	16	13.68%	2.39	Bing
marketing	458	0	—	—	Google

Six thousand three hundred times, people walked past my storefront with "opencode go"… and almost nobody came in. In contrast, when the search is specific ("14 principios de Henry Fayol"), the CTR goes above 13%. The clearer the intent, the easier it is to be the right answer.

That's why, in the long run, ranking becomes a review cycle. Every two to four weeks I review three things:

1. Which searches bring me impressions? Many aren't the ones I planned. "opencode go limits" brings me almost a thousand impressions: people don't want to know what the tool is, they want to know how much it delivers.
2. Where do I have lots of impressions and few clicks? Almost always the problem is the title or the meta description. The storefront doesn't say what the person is looking for.
3. Does the person find the answer when they come in? If someone searches for "limits" and the article takes six paragraphs to state them, they leave.

And I refresh: I change the title so it uses the words of the search, put the answer in the first paragraph, and update prices, dates and screenshots.

I also learned to let go. Searches like "marketing" are so broad that nobody knows what the person typing them wants. It's not my fight.

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Step 4: Two streets, not one (Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools)

When people talk about SEO, they talk about Google. But over the last three months Bing has brought Crea Cosas 649 clicks. Those are people who came in through a street most don't even consider.

Besides, Bing's index feeds other services: Microsoft's Copilot relies on it, and search engines like Yahoo and DuckDuckGo use Bing results. Doing well on Bing means being in several places at once.

Minimum setup in both tools:

• Google Search Console: verify your domain, upload your sitemap.xml and use URL Inspection to request indexing of new or refreshed pages.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: you can import your site directly from Search Console, so setup takes only a few minutes. Upload the sitemap too and check the Search Performance report.

Both are free. Not using Bing Webmaster Tools is leaving data and visits on the table.

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Step 5: IndexNow, the doorbell to announce you updated

When you publish or update an article, the search engine doesn't find out right away. Its robot has to stop by, notice the change and crawl again, and that can take days.

IndexNow is an open protocol for ringing the doorbell: you tell the search engine that a URL is new, changed or deleted. A single notification is shared among the participating search engines, like Bing, Yandex, Naver and Seznam, among others.

⚠️ Important: Google does not use IndexNow. For Google you still rely on the sitemap and Search Console.

In my case I've sent close to one thousand URLs. The peak of almost 400 at the beginning was when I announced the whole site at once. Afterwards it stabilizes in the dozens: those are the new articles and the refreshes of the review cycle.

How to implement it in 3 steps

1. Generate a key (a string of letters and numbers, for example with a UUID generator) and publish it in a text file at the root of your site:

https://www.yoursite.com/8f3c2a9b4d1e4f7a.txt

The file only contains the key:

8f3c2a9b4d1e4f7a

2. Announce a single URL with a simple GET request:

https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://www.yoursite.com/articulo-nuevo&key=8f3c2a9b4d1e4f7a

3. Announce several URLs at once with a POST request:

curl -X POST "https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
  -d '{
    "host": "www.yoursite.com",
    "key": "8f3c2a9b4d1e4f7a",
    "keyLocation": "https://www.yoursite.com/8f3c2a9b4d1e4f7a.txt",
    "urlList": [
      "https://www.yoursite.com/articulo-1",
      "https://www.yoursite.com/articulo-2"
    ]
  }'

A 200 or 202 response means the notification was received. If you use WordPress, Shopify or another platform, check whether a plugin or integration already exists that does it automatically every time you publish.

Who is it key for?

• Online stores: they change prices, add products and mark items as sold out every single day. If the search engine shows old information, the customer arrives and leaves frustrated.
• News sites: they publish constantly, and news indexed late loses almost all its value.
• Blogs that refresh content, like this one: every update of the review cycle gets announced.

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Step 6: AI citations, the neighbor who recommends you

More and more people ask an AI directly, and on Google many searches already show an AI-generated answer above the results. Those answers come from web pages, and some pages appear cited as a source.

This can already be measured:

• Google Search Console has a beta report called AI Features. In the last 28 days, my site added 1.97K impressions there, and the curve went from almost zero to more than 300 daily impressions.
• Bing Webmaster Tools has its AI Performance section, also in beta.

Which searches show up? "opencode go limits", "opencode go usage limits", "is opencode go worth it"… Exactly the questions I answered with the article cluster and kept refreshing in the review cycle.

I didn't do anything special "for the AI". I did the same as always, and that's what helps you get cited:

• Answer directly in the first paragraph, no detours.
• Concrete, up-to-date data: prices, dates, steps, comparisons.
• Clear structure: subtitles that are questions, tables and lists.
• Announce your changes with Search Console, sitemap and IndexNow.

AI makes evident something that was always true: the search engine doesn't reward the one who shouts the loudest, but the one who answers best. Before, if you weren't the best answer, at least you appeared in the list. Now the AI picks one or two sources.

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Checklist to get started this week

• I wrote my list of 5 to 10 interests around my brand.
• I turned each interest into literal searches, by moment of the day.
• I picked a topic and planned its cluster of 5 to 10 connected articles.
• I verified my site in Google Search Console and uploaded the sitemap.
• I imported my site into Bing Webmaster Tools.
• I set up IndexNow (key at the root and notification when publishing).
• I scheduled a review every 2 to 4 weeks: impressions, CTR and intent.

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Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for a website to rank?

It depends on the competition and the age of the site. A new site like Hito already has thousands of impressions but few clicks: people are starting to see it, and clicks arrive as the article cluster grows and content is refreshed. Think in months, not in days.

Is it worth ranking on Bing if almost everyone uses Google?

Yes. Bing brought me 649 clicks in three months on Crea Cosas. Besides, its index feeds Copilot and other search engines. Setting it up takes minutes if you import your site from Search Console.

Does IndexNow work for Google?

No. IndexNow is used by Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and other participating search engines. For Google, you use the sitemap and the URL Inspection tool in Search Console.

Why do I get lots of impressions but few clicks?

Usually because your title and description don't match the search intent, or because the search is too broad. Check which queries bring you impressions and adjust the storefront to those words.

How do I know if AI is citing my site?

Check the AI Features report in Google Search Console and the AI Performance section in Bing Webmaster Tools. Both are in beta.

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Conclusion: being the right answer

The whole process boils down to one idea: it's not about being on the internet, but about being the right answer for the person who finds you in that immense sea.

The list of interests tells you what people search for. The article cluster turns you into a reference. The review cycle keeps you aligned with what people need. Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and IndexNow make sure search engines find out. And AI rewards whoever did all of the above.

If you want to take this to your business with guidance and a step-by-step process, at Leo Transforma I have the Transforma program, where we work on the digital marketing of your venture from scratch.

And if you'd rather watch it explained on video, with the screenshots on screen, you'll find it on the Diario para Emprendedores channel.