To get the best Bing search results, users should take advantage of these 10 built-in search operators, which refine their search results, save time, and increase productivity.
Microsoft has spent a great deal of time and resources developing a new and improved AI-enabled version of Bing. Presumably the plan is to make Bing more useful and more relevant compared to its well-established competition. Only time will tell if this tactic will be successful.
SEE: Find the right AI architect for your team with this TechRepublic Premium Hiring Kit.
Meanwhile, Windows 11 users will benefit from quick access to the new AI-enabled Bing right from their standard desktop search box located on the taskbar. To get the best search results, users should take advantage of the built-in search operators.
These 10 common search operators help you refine your search inputs, which in turn refine your search results, saving time and energy and increasing your productivity.
Use search operators to refine your Bing AI search results
In order to work properly, the Bing search operators have a specific syntax that must be followed. The search operator is always followed by a colon, which is immediately followed by a parameter. There are no whitespaces before or after the colon, as shown here:
operator:parameter
This convention takes time to get used to, but it should always be followed. Capital letters are not important.
SEE: Do you use Google? Try these tips for better Google search results.
Note: There are more search operators available, but these 10 are probably the most useful.
place:
Adding the site: operator to a search query will limit that search to a specific website. For example, windows 11 site:techrepublic.com You will find Windows 11 related articles only on TechRepublic. The site: operator only returns results for two levels of subdomains.
domain:
The operator’s domain – Will limit a search query to an entire domain, including all indexed subdomains.
contains:
The contains operator: Limits search query results to pages that contain links to specific file types. For example, if you want to find links to .pdf files, use the operator contains:pdf.
Type of file:
If you want to search for results with a specific file type, you’ll use the file type: operator. Note the subtle difference between contains: (search for links to PDF files) and file type: (search for PDF files).
define:
If you just want the definition of a word or phrase, add the define operator: (Figure A). For example, define:artificial intelligence.
Figure A
image size:
The imagesize: operator will search Bing images for images related to your search query limited to their specified size. The size parameter can be small (less than 200 pixels), medium (200 to 500 pixels), or large (more than 500 pixels).
anchor:
The inanchor operator: will limit your results to only web pages with your query word or phrase in their anchor text, such as titles, subheadings, and headings.
in body:
Use the inbody: operator to limit the word or phrase in your search query to the body text of each indexed website.
qualification:
The intitle: operator will limit the results to a queried word or phrase that appears in the title of a web page.
location:
The location: operator will limit a search to a specific location. For example, birds location:us will limit results to websites that identify themselves as residents of the United States.
Better searches produce better results
For general web browsing, these Bing search operators may seem like extra work for little profit, but for serious searches done as part of your job duties and with time constraints, they can save substantial amounts of time and effort.
Better search results, the kind of results you can actually use, require better search queries, and these search operators can be the key to getting the results you want.
Read below: See how Microsoft could turn Bing Chat into your personal AI assistant.
