Bing has replaced the Bing Local Listing Center with the Bing Business Portal, which is in beta. This is a destination where businesses can claim, verify, and manage their local listings in Bing.

“All existing listings on LLC have already been seamlessly migrated to the Bing Business Portal,” a Bing representative tells WebProNews.

It’s obviously a good idea to have a verified business in the search engine’s listings, but as an added bonus, it can actually improve your overall search rankings as well. “The details you provide can help modify how your business appears in the Bing algorithmic search results,” Bing says on a FAQ page. “Add photos, logos, contact information, payment types, menus, and other business details that help your business stand out from other local listings.”

“The BBP is just one of many ways Bing helps improve business rankings and local search results, and it’s a quick and easy way to help businesses improve their relevancy on Bing and increase the amount of quality traffic to their site,” the representative tells us.

Businesses can identify specific search categories they want their listings to appear in.

There are even publishing tools that let businesses create mobile sites (and free QR codes) and menus (restaurants and bars) for inclusion on a mobile menu.

In addition, businesses can create deals, and these will appear in Bing search results as well (both mobile and desktop searches). They can also be published to Facebook.

“Any business can claim, customize, and manage their listing via the Bing Business Portal,” Bing says. “Currently Bing Business Portal is optimized for independent, locally owned businesses where the local business owner or store manager is responsible for making local advertising and marketing decisions. Examples include restaurants, bars, spas, florists, and the like.”

To claim your listing, simply search for it in Bing’s local results, then click the “change this business listing” link.

If you haven’t actually done this yourself, there is a good chance that there is still good information on the listing’s page, as Bing says it has worked with a number of sources to complete “as many details as possible”.