Why Microsoft Copilot Matters for Developer Relations
Developers ask Microsoft Copilot how to do things before they open your docs, and it answers from the Bing index (Microsoft documents that Copilot sends web queries to Bing). If your documentation is not reachable or not quotable, Microsoft Copilot explains a competitor's API instead. For DevRel, that makes docs access and structure part of adoption, not just support.
The Microsoft Copilot Mistake to Avoid
A broad Disallow rule that catches bingbot, which removes your pages from Microsoft Copilot answers.
Action Items for Developer Relations
Apply the same rule to your docs subdomain: Allow bingbot in robots.txt
Ask Microsoft Copilot how to do your top five tasks and check the code it returns
Give each task page a short, correct code example near the top
Keep versioned docs clear about which version is current
Report recurring wrong answers from Microsoft Copilot to the docs team
What Developer Relations Should Track in Microsoft Copilot
Accuracy of Microsoft Copilot's answers for your top tasks
Docs pages Microsoft Copilot cites or quotes
Outdated API versions Microsoft Copilot still suggests
Developer sign-ups referred from Microsoft Copilot
Frequently Asked Questions
How can DevRel get Microsoft Copilot to reference our docs?
Make the docs reachable (allow bingbot, including on a docs subdomain), then make each task page answer one task with a correct example near the top. Microsoft Copilot can only quote what it can fetch and parse.
Why does Microsoft Copilot suggest an old version of our API?
Older docs, blog posts or forum answers are still public and compete with current pages. Label the current version clearly, redirect or mark retired pages, and put the current example first.
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