Microsoft announced a number of updates to Copilot today, specific to Bing Search, its generative search experience and Deep Search features are expanding more with this news.
Generative search. Bing said it is now expanding its Bing generative search experience for “informational queries”, such as how-to queries. Some examples include “how to effectively run a one on one” and “how can I remove background noise from my podcast recordings.”
“Whether you’re looking for a detailed explanation, solving a complex problem, or doing deep research, generative AI helps deliver a more profound level of answers that goes beyond surface-level results,” Microsoft wrote.
How to try it. Microsoft said, go to Bing in the United States and type “Bing generative search” into the search bar. “You’ll be met with a carousel of queries to select and demo, allowing you to experience how generative search can deliver more relevant and comprehensive answers for a wide range of topics,” Microsoft added.
What it looks like. Here is a screenshot:
What is Bing generative search. Microsoft explained that this search “experience combines the foundation of Bing’s search results with the power of large and small language models (LLMs and SLMs).” “It understands the search query, reviews millions of sources of information, dynamically matches content, and generates search results in a new AI-generated layout to fulfill the intent of the user’s query more effectively,” Microsoft added.
Deep Search expands. While Microsoft announced Deep Search last December, it had a rocky start, but it is live to US users as of last March. Microsoft today said, “While we’re excited to give you this opportunity to explore generative search firsthand, this experience is still being rolled out in beta. You may notice a bit of loading time as we work to ensure generative search results are shown when we’re confident in their accuracy and relevancy, and when it makes sense for the given query. You will generally see generative search results for informational and complex queries, and it will be indicated under the search box with the sentence “Results enhanced with Bing generative search.”
More. Microsoft reiterated its stance on publishers, saying:
Bing generative search is just the first step in upcoming improvements to define the future of search. We’re continuing to roll this experience out slowly to ensure we deliver a quality experience before making this broadly available. We also continue to ensure there are additional citations and links that enable users to explore further and check accuracy, which in turn will send more traffic to publishers to maintain a healthy web ecosystem.
Why we care. This is another step of the evolution of AI in search and we are looking forward to future changes.
Publishers will need to keep an eye on these changes and adapt to these changes going forward.