Bing Separates AI Training From AI Answers
IA en un minuto newsroom · Editor: Jon Elgezabal
In 30 seconds
Bing will give websites two separate switches: one to keep their content out of AI model training and another to decide whether a page can ground AI answers. Microsoft says neither changes a site's standing in traditional Bing search, although limiting answers costs brand visibility. Bing will start applying the preferences on February 1, 2027.
Microsoft has announced two independent website preferences on the Bing blog. One covers the training of AI models and the other covers grounding, meaning the use of a page's content to generate AI answers.
Training can be blocked in robots.txt, for a whole site or for a path, or page by page with a meta tag or an HTTP header. Grounding is configured only at page level and has three settings: allow (the default), DisallowExtended, which limits it to services Microsoft operates and leaves out third-party ones, or Disallow, which stops the content from being used to generate answers.
Microsoft says the preferences do not change a page's eligibility in traditional Bing search results. It does warn that choosing Disallow or DisallowExtended for grounding reduces brand visibility in AI experiences.
Microsoft's timeline: on December 15, 2026, temporary grounding preferences open in Bing Webmaster Tools for sites that already use the older NoArchive or NoCache tags. On February 1, 2027, Bing will begin applying the new preferences as it crawls. March 1, 2027 is the deadline to publish them and keep existing restrictions, and the temporary ones expire on September 30, 2027.
Why it matters · analysis and opinion
Anyone who wanted to control how Microsoft's AI uses their content depended until now on the older NoArchive and NoCache tags, which these preferences are meant to replace. With two separate settings, a publisher or a shop can, for example, block training and still appear as a source in answers from Copilot or AI-powered search. The decision stops being all or nothing, but it takes judgment: Microsoft admits that limiting grounding cuts brand visibility in those experiences. Anyone using those tags today should review their pages with time to spare, because a preference only counts once it is published and Bing picks it up while crawling; doing nothing loses the restriction.
Official source: Microsoft · Written with the help of AI: how we make the news
