If you’ve been writing content for a while, then you’ve probably seen your organic traffic dip in the last year, and that sucks.
Well, the good news is, there’s a simple solution to help pull some of this back, and no I’m not talking about onpage optimization or trying to parasite traffic off of Reddit or other platforms.
Even better?
The solution takes about 5 minutes to set up. However, most people don’t know about it, and the ones that have heard of it, are using it wrong…
So let’s break this down.
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Otherwise, let’s get on with the article and you can carry on reading…
Introducing Google's Preferred Sources (for content marketers)
In August of 2025, Google launched something called ‘preferred sources’ for news publications only.
The idea being that people could select specific news websites that they liked, and then if those sites had a story on a topic that the user was searching for, they would show up in that search for them.
This way the user always got the point of view from the journalists they trust rather than some ragebaiting YouTuber.
The website would also feature this pretty nifty ‘Preferred source’ or even a ‘heavily cited’ tag next to it to help you see that these are legit sources.
So why do we care about this?
Well, let’s be honest… but AI search kind of sucks and Google knows this.
It was in such a race to put it out, that the quality of content has been all over the place, with garbage information being recommended to its users such as ‘adding glue’ to cheese so that it doesn’t slide off your pizza:
It’s not just the insane answers either though, because the BBC found that up to 45% of the info being shared in AI search results was just plain wrong!
Not great right?
Especially once you realize that Google is essentially just a user interface company when it comes to search.
Why does this matter?
Well, if people stop getting the results and experience they want, then they’ll stop using it, which is why they started to lose users to other platforms for the first time in years. So, in an effort to fix this, Google is now allowing all websites to use this preferred sources feature also.
For example
Here you can see my blog showing up with the preferred tags when I searched for results around content marketing for solopreneurs:
The idea being that if they can get users to add the sites they like, it will help improve the quality of the results they show them in AI search.
It’s great for the user, Google, and you, because you’ll actually show up more for that AI search traffic!
It’s actually really easy to use also.
How Google’s preferred search works for your readers
All you need to do is get your readers to click a link that loads up a page that looks like this:
Once they are on the page, they simply need to just tick a box to say that your website is a source that they want to see more of when they search:
It takes the user around 2 seconds to do.
They literally:
- Click,
- Tick,
- and that’s it!
But now when they search for a topic that you have content on, your website will come up as an option.
Handy right?
However, it’s worth pointing out that this will only affect the AI search of the people who tick this box. It won’t affect the general public.
Why use this if it doesn’t affect all AI Search traffic?
Now you might be thinking, well why bother doing this if they are already reading my content, and it’s not impacting everyone else?
Well, for a few reasons.
Reason #1. You need multiple touch points to the sale
As you know, only a very small percentage of your site visitors will buy from you right away when they find you.
The vast majority of your website traffic will need multiple touch points instead, where they learn more about their problems and what they need to solve them.
So they’ll usually Google something and find your content, and then Google something else a few days later, and then something else a week later and so on.
Because of this, the best case scenario is to turn readers into leads using something like my Hyper Specific Offer method.
This way you can then email them this content and help move them towards being a customer.
Not everyone will opt-in though, so the 2nd best scenario is that they keep coming back to you via search using this method.
Reason #2. Most keyword traffic is from the same people
Another reason is this will also impact your traffic from AI search in your reports.
How?
Well, we often make the assumption that each of those different articles and keywords are different people searching, but usually it’s the same people searching those different topics.
And so by getting them to add us as a source, it means they will be more likely to click follow up search terms, thus improving our traffic in reports.
TL;DR this won’t impact people who haven’t set you as a source (yet), but it will impact your touch points and sales from the people who do.
There’s also the argument of the psychological principle to get someone to make a small yes and take a minor action helps build trust but that’s a little nerdy for the topic of this post.
Suffice it to say, it’s definitely worth doing this.
However, and I cannot stress this enough – DO NOT FOLLOW THE COMMON ADVICE for how to set this up.
Do this instead…
How to set up Google’s preferred source so that your readers actually use it
The first step is to create a custom link that takes them to the preferred sources page.
Super easy to do, you simply take this URL
https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=yourwebsitehere.com
and then change the end of the URL after the equals sign so that it has your website home page instead.
For example
https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=ampmycontent.com
If you didn’t add your domain, it would just take them to the source’s blank page and they would have to search for you manually, find you, and then tick.
The less effort you can make this for them, the better chance that they will do it.
But by adding your domain like this in the URL, it’ll now show your website on the page as an option that’s ready to be ticked instead.
Much easier right?
However, we have a problem and it all comes down to how people are setting this up, and why it’s not working for them.
So let me explain:
Google have tried to make it easy for devs to add this to feature to your website, by giving us pre-designed embed button links that look like this:
You can upload that image to your website anywhere you want, and attach your link and it will work when clicked on.
The problem of course is why on earth would anyone want to click on it?
For example
Here you can see one of these pre-made designs being used on the Nerdist blog:
It’s kind of hidden amongst a bunch of different calls to action and honestly, it wasn’t until I was writing this guide and knew what this was, that I even paid it any attention.
I’ve probably seen it 50 times while browsing their stuff, and not even noticed it until today!
Now, Search Engine Journal do a little bit better in that they have it larger and a custom design:
However, this still isn’t good enough.
Simply because there’s zero reason for the reader to click on this, so it just fades into the background, and is ignored.
- Why should the reader care?
- What’s in it for them?
- Do they even notice it?
If you want anyone to take any action, then you have to give them a reason that benefits them, and these buttons just don’t cut it.
So what’s the solution?
Well, there are 3 good options and I recommend you use each of them.
Step #1. Write a unique CTA inside of your new articles and tailor it to the content
The first method is to simply add custom calls to action in your articles. The more you can tailor it to your topic the better because if they are enjoying the article they are reading, there’s a good chance they want more like this in the future.
For example
I’ll add one now for this particular article and you can choose if you want to click through or not…
Sidenote: AI search sucks, and it’s hard to always find good content. So if you’re enjoying this post, and want to learn how to get more traffic in the future, then I have a solution for you that takes just 2 seconds.
If you click this link and then tick the box on the page that loads up, Google will then show you more of my tutorials next time you’re searching. This way you’ll be able to find my guides and not random nonsense written by AI.
Do it now. It literally is as easy as clicking, then ticking a box and that’s it!
Easy right?
- I tell them the problem (bad search experience)
- I share the benefit and make it specific (more content on topics like you’re reading right now)
- And I tell them how easy it is to do
Now, not everyone will do this because they might mean to do it when they finish reading and then forget. So we can do the next steps also.
Step #2. Send an email to your current list explaining the issue and asking them to click
The people on your list already love you and your content, but that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t prefer to see it more often when they search.
For example
I know for a fact that sites that I used to read all the time are still publishing content, but I never see them in the results.
Your readers are probably experiencing the same thing when it comes to your own content, so simply send them an email and ask them to add your site as a preferred source:
- Explain the problem
- Tell them the solution
- Give them the link to click
Easy right!?
We can take this one step further also and automate it…
Step #3. Set up an automation to ask them to do it after the optin to your email list
When someone first joins your email list, they are usually a really warm lead, and so are quite receptive.
That’s why one of the first things most email automation’s do is ask people to whitelist their email, so it reduces the chance of it getting lost in the spam filter.
Knowing this, you can simply ask them to do one more thing and add you as a preferred source at the same time:
Simple!
Time to get more AI search traffic using preferred sources
So as you can see, although this isn’t a perfect fix to the whole AI traffic drop issue, it is a very easy win that you can set up in 5 minutes.
Better still, it can have a direct impact on your ongoing search traffic, while also increasing the chances of those return visits and multiple touch points, which lead to the sale.
Not bad for around 5 minutes of effort right?
The trick of course is that this only works when you’ve set it up,, so go ahead and give this a try for your own website now, and then check back on your AI search traffic in 90 days and see how it’s been impacted.
I think you might be shocked.
When I tested this with a client, we saw a 16% lift in Google AI Search clicks almost immediately, so definitely give it a go.