Google now lets you choose whose content you want to see more of in your search results. The feature is called preferred sources, and hardly anyone knows it exists yet.

It takes under a minute to set up, and it changes what you see in Top Stories and in AI-powered results like AI Overviews and AI Mode. If there are websites you trust, you can tell Google to show you more of them.

What are Google preferred sources?

Preferred sources is a Google Search setting that lets you pick the websites you would like to see more prominently. Once you have added a site, its content is more likely to appear in your Top Stories, and Google's AI features will lean towards it when building answers for you.

Sites you have chosen also get a small “preferred” badge in your results, so you can spot them at a glance.

The important word is your. This does not change anyone else's search results. It is a personal setting, a little like following an account on social media, but for Google Search.

Why it matters in the age of AI search

More and more searches now end in an AI-generated answer rather than a list of blue links. That answer has to come from somewhere, and Google decides which sources to draw on.

Preferred sources hands you some of that control. If you would rather your AI Overviews were built from publications you actually trust, this is the dial to turn.

How to add a preferred source on Google

You will need to be signed in to your Google account. Then:

  • Step 1: Go to google.com/preferences/source.
  • Step 2: Search for the website you want to add, for example sleepinggiantmedia.co.uk.
  • Step 3: Tick it, and you are done. You can add as many sources as you like, and remove them at any time from the same screen.

That is genuinely all there is to it.

For website owners: add the button to your own site

If you publish content, you can make this easy for your readers. Google supports a simple link format that takes people straight to the preferences screen with your site already filled in:

google.com/preferences/source?q=yourdomain.com

Put that behind a button at the end of your articles, in your newsletter, or on social media. A few things worth knowing:

  • Only domains and subdomains are eligible, so example.com works but example.com/blog does not.
  • You do not need to add anything to your site for readers to choose you. The button just removes friction.
  • Google also provides official downloadable button assets in several languages if you would rather use their branding.

One thing worth knowing: newer or smaller sites may not appear in the source search straight away. Google has to recognise a domain as a source first, which tends to come with being indexed, verified in Search Console and publishing regularly. If your site does not show up yet, that is the work to do first.

A small habit with a compounding effect

AI search is increasingly deciding what people see, and most of us have never touched the settings that shape it. Preferred sources is one of the few controls Google has actually handed over. Use it for the sources you rate, encourage your audience to use it for you, and you both come out ahead.

Luke