Local
Do you need Bing Places and Apple Business Connect?
The old answer was that Bing was not worth the time for a small local business. That answer has weakened, for a reason that has little to do with Bing's own traffic.
The case used to be weak
For direct search traffic, Google dominates by such a margin that other engines rarely justified attention for a local business with limited time.
That part is still broadly true, and anyone telling you Bing Places will transform your enquiries is overselling.
What changed
Assistants and devices draw on different underlying data. Some AI products have used Bing's index rather than Google's, and Apple devices use Apple's own map data rather than Google's.
So a business that exists only on Google is complete in one ecosystem and absent from others. Someone asking Siri, or asking an assistant built on a non-Google index, is querying a picture your business is not in.
The relationships between these companies change regularly, which is itself the argument. Being present in more than one place is insurance against a shift you cannot predict.
What to actually do
Set up Bing Places and Apple Business Connect with exactly the same information as your Google profile. Same name, same address format, same phone number, same categories where they map across, same description.
The consistency is the point. Three listings that agree strengthen each other. Three that disagree create exactly the contradiction that makes a business harder to trust, which defeats the purpose.
Keep expectations low
Neither will produce a noticeable jump in enquiries. If that is the standard, you will be disappointed and you will stop maintaining them.
The correct framing is coverage. It is an afternoon of work that removes a category of invisibility, and it feeds the corroboration that getting named by assistants depends on.
Then leave them alone
Update them when something changes. Do not treat them as channels needing weekly attention, because they are not, and pretending otherwise is how they get abandoned entirely.
Common questions
Is Bing Places worth setting up if I already have Google?
For direct traffic, marginally. The stronger reason now is that assistants and devices outside Google's ecosystem draw on other indexes, so a business that exists only on Google is invisible to part of the picture. It takes an afternoon.
What is Apple Business Connect?
Apple's equivalent listing, controlling how your business appears in Apple Maps and across Apple devices. It matters because iPhone users searching maps or asking Siri are not using Google data.
Do AI assistants use Bing data?
Some assistants have drawn on Bing's index rather than Google's, which is why a business well established on Google alone can be absent from certain AI answers. The relationships change, which is an argument for covering more than one.
How long does it take to set these up?
An afternoon each at most, and both are free. They are close to the definition of low effort and non-zero return.