Google Preferred Sources: What B2B Marketers Need to Know

Google Preferred Sources lets users choose websites they want to see more often. Google can then highlight links from those sites in Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode. This only affects users who selected the site. Google has not said that it improves general rankings or AI citations.

• Users can select a website in Google's Source Preferences or through a button on the website.
• Google may show that website more often when it has fresh content relevant to the search.
• Preferred links receive a visible label in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
• Google says users are twice as likely to click a source they selected.
• There is no proof that more selections improve visibility among people who did not select the website.

Google Preferred Sources gives users more control over the websites they see in Google Search. A user can select a website, after which Google may show and highlight that website more often for relevant searches.

For B2B marketers, the feature can help an existing reader find your content again. It does not replace SEO or make your website more authoritative for every Google user.

What is Google Preferred Sources?

Preferred Sources is a personal setting in Google Search. It applies to the Google account of the person who makes the selection.

When someone selects your website, Google can:

• show your articles more often in Top Stories;
• add your articles to a “From your sources” section;
• label your links as “Preferred” in AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google still checks whether the content is relevant and fresh. Selecting a website does not guarantee that it will appear for every search.

Users will also continue to see content from other websites. Preferred Sources changes the order and presentation of some results; it does not create a closed feed.

When did Google introduce the feature?

Google first tested Preferred Sources in Search Labs on 26 June 2025. The experiment was available in English in the United States and India.

The feature became relevant to AEO when Google added it to AI Overviews and AI Mode in May 2026. Before that, it mainly affected news results.

What happens when someone selects your website?

The effect is personal.

If one person selects Overflow, Google can highlight Overflow for that person. It does not mean that other users will see Overflow more often.

Google confirms three effects:

1. The selected website can appear more often in Top Stories when it publishes relevant, recent content.
2. Links from the website can receive a “Preferred” label in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
3. Users are twice as likely to click through to a source after selecting it, according to Google.

The third point needs context. People select websites they already like or trust. It is therefore unsurprising that they click those websites more often. Google's figure does not prove that the label alone doubles clicks.

Do more Preferred Source selections improve AEO?

More selections increase the number of people who can receive personalized visibility from your website.

If 500 people select your website, those 500 accounts can see your content highlighted when it is relevant. That can produce more repeat visibility and clicks across the group.

Google has not said that selection volume affects users outside that group. There is no public evidence that collecting more selections:

• improves general organic rankings;
• increases domain authority;
• makes Google cite the website more often for everyone;
• helps the website appear in ChatGPT or Perplexity;
• or makes Google use the website to generate an AI answer.

There is an important difference between a link being highlighted in an AI answer and a page being used as a source for that answer. Google confirms that preferred links can be highlighted. It does not say that the preference changes which sources its AI uses to create the answer.

For a broader explanation, read why Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity cite different sources.

Why does this matter for B2B marketers?

B2B buyers often research a purchase several times. They may first investigate a problem, then compare solutions, check implementation requirements and evaluate suppliers.

Preferred Sources can help your website reappear during those later searches.

For example, a marketing manager might read an Overflow article about CMS selection and select Overflow as a Preferred Source. When that person later searches for Webflow migration risks or Webflow versus Contentful, Google can make a relevant Overflow article easier to spot.

The benefit is straightforward: it can help people who already know your content find it again.

It is not a strong way to reach people who have never heard of your company. Reaching new buyers still requires useful content, technical SEO, relevant third-party mentions and strong distribution. Our guide to creating content that gets cited in AI Search explains those fundamentals.

How can users select your website?

Users can add a website manually:

1. Open Google's Source Preferences.
2. Search for the website.
3. Select the checkbox next to the website.

Google says any website that regularly publishes fresh content can be eligible. Websites that are not updated regularly may not appear in the tool.

How do you add Google's button to your website?

Google provides a button that lets visitors add the current website as a Preferred Source.

Add this script to the page head:

<script async src="https://news.google.com/swg/js/v1/publisher.js"></script>

Place this element where the button should appear:

<div google-add-preferred-source-btn></div>

Google translates the button automatically based on the visitor's browser language. The button can also use a light or dark theme.

Google recommends this implementation because the user returns to the original page after making the selection. Publishers can also use a direct link in newsletters and social posts.

Where should a B2B company place the button?

Show the button after the visitor has received something useful. Good locations include:

• below an article;
• on the main insights page;
• beside a newsletter sign-up;
• in a newsletter for existing subscribers;
• on the confirmation page after a report or webinar registration.

Do not make it the main call to action on every page. A new visitor usually needs to understand your company before they have a reason to prefer it.

Use copy that explains the result. For example:

Add Overflow as a Preferred Source to find our B2B marketing and AI Search articles more easily in Google.

Should you ask everyone to select your site?

Ask relevant readers, subscribers and customers. Do not chase selections from people who have no interest in your subject.

Google has not shown that a large raw number improves general visibility. A campaign designed only to inflate the count therefore has no proven SEO value.

For a B2B company, selections from people in the target market are more useful because those people may search related questions again. The value comes from future visibility among those individual users, not from the size of the number itself.

How should you measure it?

Google does not provide publishers with a complete report showing who selected the site or how much traffic every selection generated.

You can still measure parts of the process:

1. Track clicks on the Preferred Source button as an analytics event.
2. Compare button clicks across articles, the insights page and newsletters.
3. Monitor returning visitors from Google over time.
4. Track assisted conversions and branded searches, but do not assume that Preferred Sources caused every change.

The button-click event is the clearest direct metric. Changes in traffic or leads are harder to attribute because content, rankings and search behaviour change at the same time.

If you do not yet have a baseline for AI visibility, start with an AI visibility audit.

Should Overflow add the button?

Yes. Overflow publishes regularly about B2B marketing, Webflow and AI Search, so readers have a clear reason to select the site.

The best first placements would be:

• below every Insight article;
• on the Insights overview page;
• beside the newsletter form.

We would track each placement separately. After several weeks, the data would show where readers are most likely to use it.

The button should be a secondary action. Booking a call, reading the next article or subscribing to the newsletter may still be more valuable depending on the page.

The conclusion

Google Preferred Sources can make your website more visible to people who selected it. Google also says those users are more likely to click it.

What it does not do—based on current evidence—is improve your rankings or AI citations for everyone else.

For B2B marketers, the feature is useful because buyers often return to Google throughout a long purchase process. Add the button where engaged readers will see it, track its use and treat it as a way to improve repeat visibility—not as a shortcut to better AEO performance.

Read What Is AEO? for the wider strategy or see how Overflow approaches AEO for B2B companies.

1. Google Search Help — Preferred Sources in Google Search
2. Google — How to select Preferred Sources in Google Search
3. Google — Preferred Sources expands worldwide
4. Google — Preferred Sources now available in all languages
5. Google — Preferred Sources in AI Search
6. Google Search Central — Guide to Preferred Sources for publishers
7. Google Search Central — Optimizing for generative AI features