Google preferred sources are sites a reader has told Google they want to see more of. Once someone picks your site, your posts are more likely to show up for them in Top Stories with a "preferred" badge, and can be highlighted with the same badge in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Since August 20, 2026, you can put a "Preferred Sources" button on your own pages so readers can choose you in one click.
Check you can use it first: open google.com/preferences/source and type in your domain. If it shows up, you're eligible. Then the install is two lines of HTML.
Key takeaways
- Preferred sources are sites readers choose to see more of in Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode. Picked sites get a "preferred" badge for that reader.
- Google says people who select a preferred source click to that site twice as often (Nick Fox, Google, December 2025).
- More than 600,000 unique sources had been selected by August 20, 2026, when Google released the embeddable button.
- Only whole domains and subdomains are eligible, not subfolders: code.example.com works, example.com/blog doesn't.
- It doesn't change how you rank for everyone else. It changes how often the readers who chose you see you.
How Google preferred sources work
Readers can mark a site as preferred in three ways: the star icon next to the Top Stories header in Google Search, the source preferences page, or a button or link on the site itself.
From then on, Google shows that reader more from your site where it's relevant, according to Google's documentation:
- Top Stories: your articles are more likely to appear, with a "preferred" badge. Available globally, in every language Google Search supports.
- AI Overviews and AI Mode: your content can be highlighted with a "preferred" badge for readers who selected you, in every language and country where those features run.
A short history, because dates in older guides conflict: Google tested preferred sources in Search Labs in June 2025, launched them in Top Stories in the US and India on August 12, 2025, rolled them out to English-language users worldwide in December 2025, then extended them to AI Overviews and AI Mode in 2026. The embeddable button arrived on August 20, 2026, when Google said readers had already selected more than 600,000 unique sources.
Who is eligible
- Any site that appears in the tool. It isn't limited to news publishers; check your domain at google.com/preferences/source.
- Domains and subdomains only.
https://code.example.com/can be a preferred source;https://www.example.com/blogcan't. If your blog lives in a subfolder, readers prefer the whole domain. - For the badge in AI Overviews and AI Mode, your site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console.
- The button is optional. Readers can still pick you from Search without it. The button just removes the steps.
How to add the Google preferred sources button
- 1
Check eligibility
Search your domain at google.com/preferences/source. If it isn't listed, the button won't help yet. - 2
Add the script to your site's head
Paste Google'spublisher.jsscript (below) into the<head>of your site template, once, sitewide. - 3
Put the button in your article template
Add thedivwhere you want the button, usually after the intro or at the end of each post, so every article gets it. - 4
Test it
Open a post in a private window, click the button and confirm it adds your site and returns you to the page.
The code, exactly as in Google's documentation. In the <head>:
<script async src="https://news.google.com/swg/js/v1/publisher.js"></script>Where you want the button:
<div google-add-preferred-source-btn></div>Optional attributes: data-theme="dark" for dark backgrounds (light is the default) and data-lang="en" to force a language. One click adds your whole domain, not just the page the reader was on, and sends them straight back to where they were reading.
If your CMS blocks scripts: use the link
Some hosted platforms strip custom JavaScript. Use a plain link to the preferences page instead, which also works in newsletters and social posts:
<a href="https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=example.com">Add us as a preferred source on Google</a>Replace example.com with your domain. Google also offers official badge images to use with the link, and an advanced option that lets you trigger the flow from your own button design; both are in the Search Central documentation.
Where to put it
- In the article template, after the first section or at the end, where readers have just got value from you.
- In your newsletter footer, using the link version. Subscribers already like you; they're the easiest yes.
- On your About or "follow us" page, next to RSS and social links.
Keep it to one placement per page. A button that follows the reader around looks like a cookie banner.
Do preferred sources help SEO?
Not directly. Google's documentation describes preferred sources as a way for readers to see more of the sites they chose; it doesn't present it as a ranking factor for everyone else. Your position for a new visitor doesn't change because 500 other people preferred you.
It helps indirectly. Every reader who picks you keeps seeing your posts in Top Stories and AI answers, whatever happens to rankings that month, and Google says those readers click through twice as often. Those are also the people most likely to link to you, quote you and share your work, which is what does move rankings. It works like an email subscriber, but inside Google.
For the bigger picture of getting your content shown and cited in AI answers, see our guides on how AI reads your website and why ChatGPT skips some sites, and track where you appear with Outrank's AI visibility tracker. For classic rankings, start with how to rank on Google.
FAQ
What is the Google preferred sources button?
It's an embeddable button Google released on August 20, 2026. When a reader clicks it on your site, Google adds your domain to their preferred sources and returns them to the page they were reading. You add it with Google's publisher.js script and one div.
How do I add my site as a preferred source on Google?
As a reader, click the star next to the Top Stories header in Google Search, or search for the site at google.com/preferences/source and select it. As a site owner, you can't add yourself for others, but you can make it easy with the button or a link to the preferences page with your domain filled in.
Is my website eligible for Google preferred sources?
Search your domain at google.com/preferences/source. If it appears, it's eligible. Only domains and subdomains qualify, not subfolders, and to get the badge in AI Overviews and AI Mode your site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console.
Do Google preferred sources affect rankings?
Not for searchers who haven't chosen you. For readers who have, Google is more likely to show your content in Top Stories and can badge it in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The indirect benefit is a loyal audience that clicks more often, which Google puts at twice as often.
Does the preferred sources button work without JavaScript?
Yes, through the link version: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=yourdomain.com. It opens Google's preferences page with your site already searched, and works in emails, social posts and platforms that don't allow custom scripts.
