Google has introduced another practical way for publishers to turn loyal readers into greater visibility within those readers' Search experiences.

On 20 August 2026, Google updated its Preferred Sources documentation with a new interactive button that publishers can add directly to their websites.

When a reader selects a publication as a Preferred Source, content from that site becomes more likely to appear in Top Stories for that user and can be marked with a Preferred badge.

Preferred Sources can also be highlighted with a Preferred badge in AI Mode and AI Overviews where those experiences are available.

For publishers, the new website integration makes encouraging that preference considerably easier.

Google's recommended implementation requires only two lines of HTML: one script to load the Preferred Sources library and another element to display the button. After a reader completes the process, Google returns them to the page they were viewing.

Publishers that cannot use the JavaScript implementation can also use a direct link to Google's source-preferences interface. That means the invitation can potentially be promoted through websites, newsletters, social posts and other audience channels.

There is an interesting audience-growth lesson here.

Publishers traditionally encourage loyal readers to:

  • Follow them on social media
  • Subscribe to a newsletter
  • Enable notifications
  • Bookmark their website

Now there is another useful request:

Add us as a Preferred Source on Google.

This does not guarantee that every article from a publication will rank higher, nor is it a universal Search-ranking boost.

Instead, it gives individual readers a way to tell Google that they would like to see more content from a particular source within supported Search experiences.

For publishers with an engaged audience, that makes Preferred Sources another relationship worth building alongside email subscriptions and social followers.

Why It Matters

Audience loyalty increasingly extends beyond your own website and social channels.

Helping readers identify your publication as a Preferred Source gives them another way to signal that they want to see more of your content when they use Google Search.