Bing Copilot AI Answers API | Microsoft AEO Monitoring

Track what Microsoft's answer engine says about any topic - and whether it cites YOUR brand - as clean, structured JSON.

Bing Copilot is the AI answer layer of Microsoft's search stack: for a growing share of queries, users read its generated answer instead of clicking ten blue links. If you do answer-engine optimization (AEO), you need to know what that answer says, which sources it cites, and whether your brand is in it. This API resolves any query to its Copilot answer: the headline summary, the full structured answer (headings, lists, tables, code), every cited reference, and an optional brand-mention check.

This is the fourth engine in the AEO suite, next to Google AI Overview, Naver AI Overview, and Brave AI Mode. Same input shape, same output style: monitor all four answer engines with one pipeline.

What you get for every query

Field	Description
Answer header	The one-paragraph headline answer
Markdown	The full answer rendered as a single markdown document, ready for diffing and LLM pipelines
Text blocks	The raw structured blocks: paragraphs, headings, nested lists, tables, code blocks
References	Every cited source with title, link, snippet, and source name
Brand check	brandMentioned boolean when you set brandToTrack
Extras	Featured video, image and video result links when present
Summary	A one-line human-readable summary built for AI agents

Use cases

• AEO / GEO brand monitoring - is your brand cited when Copilot answers "best crm for startups"? Track it weekly across your whole keyword set.
• Citation-source analysis - which domains does Microsoft's answer engine trust for your category? Target those for PR and content placement.
• Competitor share-of-voice - run the same query list with each competitor as brandToTrack and compare mention rates.
• Content strategy - see the exact structure (headings, tables, steps) the answer engine prefers for your keywords, and shape your content to match.
• Answer drift tracking - store the markdown over time and diff how the AI answer changes after your content updates.

Input

{
  "queries": ["best crm for startups", "best help desk software"],
  "brandToTrack": "Salesforce"
}

Parameter	Type	Notes
query / queries	string / array	The question(s) to resolve. At least one required.
brandToTrack	string	Optional. Adds a brandMentioned boolean to every answer row.

Answers typically take about 10 seconds per query to generate upstream - that is the answer engine thinking, not the actor being slow.

Example output

{
  "result_type": "copilot_answer",
  "query": "best crm for startups",
  "answerPresent": true,
  "answerHeader": "The best CRM for startups depends on budget and team size, with HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce among the most recommended.",
  "markdown": "## Top CRM picks\n\n- HubSpot: generous free tier\n- Pipedrive: pipeline-first UX\n- Salesforce: scales with you",
  "references": [
    { "index": 0, "title": "Best CRMs for Startups (2026)", "link": "https://example.com/best-crms", "source": "Example" }
  ],
  "brandToTrack": "Salesforce",
  "brandMentioned": true,
  "summary": "The best CRM for startups depends on budget and team size, with HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce among the most recommended.",
  "fetched_at": "2026-07-06T15:37:00+00:00"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-event: one flat charge per query resolved, whether you run one query or a thousand. No setup fee, no per-row surprises: one query, one answer, one charge.

How to get started

1. View on Apify Store and click Try for free.
2. Enter a query (and optionally the brand you want to track).
3. Run it and read the answer, citations, and brand check as JSON, CSV, or via the API.

Monitoring the full AEO landscape? Pair this with Google AI Overview, Naver AI Overview, and Brave AI Mode.

🔌 Use this API from Claude (MCP)

Add this actor as a tool in Claude Code (free trial), Claude Cowork (free trial), or any other MCP client, via the hosted Apify MCP server. Use this actor-specific URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/bing-copilot-api

Setup walkthrough:

Apify MCP integration docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp

Then ask things like: "Check whether Acme is mentioned when Microsoft's AI answers 'best project management software', and list the cited sources."

FAQ

Why does a query take around 10 seconds?

The answer engine generates its response live, which typically takes 8 to 13 seconds upstream. Batch your queries into one run with the queries list; they are processed sequentially with one charge each.

What if there is no AI answer for my query?

You still get a row with answerPresent: false and a note, so your monitoring pipeline can tell "no answer" apart from "run failed". The query is still charged, since the engine was queried.

How is brandMentioned computed?

Case-insensitive match of your brandToTrack string across the full answer text (all blocks) and the cited references (titles, links, snippets, and source names).

Can I set the country or language?

Not yet: the upstream answer engine currently exposes no country or language controls for this answer surface. If Microsoft adds them, they will be added here.

Last Updated: 2026.07.06