--- title: Google's preferred sources button: the Search Console setting behind the AI Mode badge canonical_url: https://tkmstudio.com/library/google-preferred-sources-search-generative-ai-control language: en last_updated: 2026-09-27 organization: TKM Studio, AI Visibility & Adoption Studio, Madrid, working worldwide --- # Google's preferred sources button: the Search Console setting behind the AI Mode badge Google now lets any eligible site add a Preferred Sources button, and a preferred site can carry a "preferred" badge in AI Mode and AI Overviews. That part depends on a separate Search Console setting that reached every site on 31 August 2026. What the button does and does not do, the two checks to run first, and what the JavaScript button loads before anyone clicks. ## What changed On 20 August 2026 Google introduced an embeddable Preferred Sources button. A reader clicks it, your site is added to their preferred sources, and they return to the page they were on. In the same announcement Google said people have already selected more than 600,000 unique sources. Two other dates frame it. On 30 April 2026 Google announced that preferred sources was rolling out globally in all supported languages. On 31 August 2026 the Search generative AI control in Search Console rolled out to all websites worldwide. The button is the easy part. The control decides whether it counts in AI Mode and AI Overviews. ## What it does and what it does not do - Top Stories: when a user selects your site as a preferred source, Google says your content is more likely to appear in Top Stories, highlighted with a "preferred" badge. This is available in all languages where Google Search is available. - AI Mode and AI Overviews: your content can be highlighted with a "preferred" badge for users who selected your site, in the languages and locales where those features exist, but only if your site is included in Search generative AI features in Search Console. - It works reader by reader, as Google describes it: the effect is for users who selected your site. Google's documentation describes no effect for anyone else. - The button is optional. Google states that the button and link methods are not required to appear as a preferred source. ## Check one: is your domain in the tool? Only domain level and subdomain level sites are eligible. A subdirectory such as example.com/blog is not. Google's button and link methods start from one condition: your site appears in the source preferences tool. Search for your domain there before you touch any code. We checked our own seven sites on 27 September 2026. Six appear in the tool. One does not, and it is a single page site. Google does not say why. ## Check two: Search generative AI in Search Console The AI Mode and AI Overviews part of preferred sources requires that your site is included in Search generative AI features. The control lives in Search Console under Settings > Search generative AI and has three options: Include, the default for all properties; Exclude; and Inherit control from parent, the default when the property has a parent. Exclude removes your links and content from AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative AI features in Google Discover. Google says this generally takes a few days: content is excluded within 1 to 2 days after the control goes live, and some content can take longer. Google also states that the control is not a ranking or inclusion signal for other parts of Search and does not affect AI training; to limit training of the models used to generate responses in these features, Google points to Google-Extended. noindex is a different tool: it removes a page from Search entirely. All seven of our Search Console domain properties show Search generative AI set to Include, the default. We changed nothing. If a property of yours shows Exclude, your site is not eligible for the preferred badge in AI Mode and AI Overviews. Google ties that condition only to those two features; Top Stories is not named in it. ## Button or link: what loads before anyone clicks Google lists three ways to guide readers. The standard JavaScript button, which Google recommends, takes two lines: `` and `
`, with data-theme for light or dark and data-lang to override the language. The advanced JavaScript option lets you build a custom design. The third is a deeplink, https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=example.com, which works as a text link, an image link, in social posts and in newsletters. We tested the standard button in isolation: the two official lines on an otherwise plain test page, and no click. On page load the browser requested publisher.js from news.google.com, loaded a hidden iframe from news.google.com and fetched the Google logo from www.gstatic.com. So on your site the standard button means requests to Google on every page view, before the reader clicks and, unless you gate the script, before any consent choice. Your Content-Security-Policy also has to allow those hosts for scripts, frames and images. The deeplink is a normal link. Nothing loads until the reader clicks. Google presents it as the option for sites that cannot use the button; we use it by choice. It has a cost: in our test the reader lands in Google's tool, ticks the site and is not sent back to your page, while the button returns them. If your consent policy only allows third party requests after consent, use the deeplink, or load the button only after consent. On our sites we chose the deeplink, in the footer. Measure first, conclude second. ## The short checklist - Search for your domain in the source preferences tool. A subdirectory is not eligible. - In Search Console, open Settings > Search generative AI and confirm the property is not set to Exclude. - Choose the method: the deeplink if your consent policy holds back third party requests, the JavaScript button if your consent flow and your Content-Security-Policy already allow Google's hosts. - Place it where returning readers see it: the footer, your newsletter, your social posts. - Treat it as a badge for readers who chose you, not as a change for everyone else. ## Questions people ask ### Do I need the Preferred Sources button to be a preferred source? No. Google states that the button and link methods are not required to appear as a preferred source. They are ways to guide readers to the setting. ### Why would a preferred site not get the badge in AI Mode? The badge there is for users who selected your site, and your site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console. Check Settings > Search generative AI: Include is the default, Exclude takes you out of AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative AI features in Discover. ### Is example.com/blog eligible as a preferred source? No. Only domain level and subdomain level sites are eligible. A subdirectory is not. ### Does setting Search generative AI to Exclude stop Google from training on my content? No. Google states that the control does not affect AI training. To limit training of the models used to generate responses in Search generative AI features, Google points to Google-Extended. It is also not a ranking or inclusion signal for other parts of Search. To remove a page from Search entirely, Google points to noindex. ### Is the deeplink an official method? Yes. Google lists https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=example.com as one of its three methods, usable as a text link, an image link, in social posts and in newsletters. It loads nothing on your page until a reader clicks it. ## Sources - [Google Search Central, Help your readers find your site through preferred sources in Google Search, last updated 18 September 2026](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/preferred-sources) - [Google Blog, Mrinalini Loew, Personalize the content you see on Search, Discover, and News, 20 August 2026](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/personalize-search-discover-news/) - [Search Console Help, Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) - [Google Blog, Preferred Sources is now available in all languages, 30 April 2026](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/preferred-sources-language-expansion/) See where engines find you: https://tkmstudio.com/services/answer-share-audit