Google Preferred Sources: How to Set Yours in 2 Minutes

If you utilize Google's AI Mode or AI Overviews, there is a subtle yet significant setting you should be aware of: Preferred Sources. Google's October 15 update elevates your chosen sources higher in AI-generated responses, granting you actual control over which news outlets AI Mode and AI Overviews rely on. What's new? Inline links within AI answers now surface your preferred sources at the top, and news carousels in AI Mode spotlight content from the publications you've selected.

Google has observed a 7-fold increase in preferred source usage, indicating that individuals are proactively curating the information they consume. To set it up in just two minutes, follow these steps:

1. Open google.com on a desktop or mobile device.

2. Conduct a search using a topic with recent news coverage, such as "AI news."

3. In the Top stories section, click the customize (stacked-sources) icon adjacent to the results.

4. Search for the publications you trust and trustworthiness.

5. Click the + (or star) icon next to each publication to add it as a preferred source.

6. Refresh the results - you'll notice a greater presence of those publications in Top stories, and Google's AI features will weigh them more heavily as well.

Understanding why this matters is crucial. AI answers are only as reliable as the sources that underpin them. By dedicating two minutes to identifying your trusted publishers, you'll witness a reduction in generic answers and an increase in depth from sources you actually read. For a comprehensive walkthrough complete with screenshots, consult the full guide on TechReview.si.