Bing Rebuilds AI Mode Homepage Around the Chat Box

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A laptop on a bright desk showing a large empty chat prompt box on a teal screen

Bing’s AI Mode has a new front door. Its homepage now opens with a large chat box and the question “How can I help you today?”, replacing the Copilot Search landing page that used to greet visitors. The change puts conversation first: the prompt sits at the centre of the page, with suggested queries appearing as you type. It is the latest step in Microsoft’s rebranding of its AI search experience, which split Copilot Search into AI Mode and AI Overview a week ago. The old address still works, but the page it serves now presents itself as AI Mode.

What changed on the page

The redesign is simple, and that is the point. The page now leads with a prominent “Ask anything” box, with the greeting “How can I help you today?” above it. Suggested queries sit front and centre, rather than tucked away, so the first thing a visitor sees is an invitation to start a conversation instead of a list of links.

The prompt box also behaves more like a search box. As you type, it shows suggested queries. Typing “searchenginewatch”, for example, surfaced suggestions including “search engine watch”, “search engine without AI”, “search engine with VPN” and “search engine without censorship”. The suggestions bring familiar autocomplete into the conversational interface, bridging the gap between typing a query and starting a chat.

The before picture

A capture from September 6 shows how different the old page looked. The same address then displayed a dedicated Copilot Search homepage, with Copilot Search branding in the centre, a suggested topic and a smaller “Ask anything” prompt near the bottom. The conversation was present, but it was not the page.

In the updated interface, the Copilot Search branding is gone, replaced by AI Mode, and the prompt box is far more prominent. The old /copilotsearch address remains in place, so existing links and bookmarks still land on the page. What they land on, though, is a different experience: a chat box first, with search recast as a conversation.

A person typing at a desktop monitor with a large empty chat box on screen

Our Read

The homepage is the clearest statement yet of what Microsoft wants Bing to be. A search box invites a query; a chat box invites a discussion, and discussions keep people on the page longer. By putting the prompt at the centre, Microsoft is betting that visitors will ask follow-up questions rather than click away after one answer.

That bet has a commercial edge. Bing has already been testing sponsored results inside its AI Overviews, and Google is packing four ads under one answer in AI Mode. A homepage built around conversation creates more turns to monetise, and the suggested queries are a quiet way of steering those turns toward commercial topics.

Why It Matters

The homepage sets the tone for everything downstream. If Bing’s front door is a chat box, the traffic that follows will come through AI answers and their source links, not ten blue links. Microsoft’s search advertising revenue rose 12% last quarter, so the company has every reason to push visitors toward the format where its ads and answers live.

Background

Microsoft confirmed the split behind this redesign on November 1, describing AI Mode and AI Overview as two distinct Bing experiences: AI Mode for conversational research, AI Overview for quick summaries beside regular results. The company also said AI Mode responses draw on web information and include source links, and the new branding has since reached the Bing Android app.

Source: Search Engine Watch report and Search Engine Watch on the AI Mode split

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Faheem R. Khattak
Founder & Senior Editor

Senior automation engineer and AI marketing journo covering LLMs, algorithms, analytics, core updates, Bing search, and technical SEO.

✓ 10+ Years Covering Google Search & AI

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