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2. The preferred-source button

What this is

Google lets a reader mark your site as a source they prefer. Once they do, your pages carry a badge in Top Stories — and in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The lever is two lines of HTML, and most sites do not have them.

Why this matters for vitadefence.com

1 page of vitadefence.com were read and the button was not on them. It is two lines of HTML, and it is the only lever you have: a reader marks you as a preferred source, and that preference follows them into Google’s AI answers.

What we found on vitadefence.com

Paste the script line in <head> and the div where the button should appear; it renders in the reader’s own language automatically. Checked 1 page: https://vitadefence.com

  • no preferred-sources button and no fallback link on this page

Pages read for this check: https://vitadefence.com.

NOT CHECKED - Google decides eligibility algorithmically and there is no way to apply. Whether this domain appears in the picker can only be seen in Google’s own picker, by a person.

Step 1 — Add the library line to <head>

This goes in the <head> of every page of vitadefence.com:

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

Step 2 — Put the button where a reader will see it

This line renders the button itself. Put it where you want it to appear — near the top of an article works, a footer does not:

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

Step 3 — Keep a plain link as the fallback

If a page of vitadefence.com cannot run scripts, this ordinary link does the same job for vitadefence.com:

<a href="https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=vitadefence.com">Add vitadefence.com as a preferred source</a>

In the words of the company that published this

Google: “Embed an interactive button to your web pages, which lets readers seamlessly add your site as a preferred source and returns them to your page. By adding only two lines to your HTML, this option renders an automatically localized, Google-styled button that supports device and language customization.”

Their page: developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/preferred-sources

How to check you did it right

  • Load https://vitadefence.com and look for the button where you put it.
  • Open the fallback link on its own — it should land on Google’s preferred-source page naming vitadefence.com.
  • View source and confirm the library line is inside <head> and not somewhere in the body.

What it looks like when it is working

  • A reader on vitadefence.com can add you in one press, and vitadefence.com carries the badge for them afterwards.
  • NOT CHECKED - Google decides eligibility algorithmically and there is no way to apply. Whether this domain appears in the picker can only be seen in Google’s own picker, by a person.

In two lines

  • 1 page of vitadefence.com were read and the button was not on them. It is two lines of HTML, and it is the only lever you have: a reader marks you as a preferred source, and that preference follows them into Google’s AI answers.
  • First add the library line to <head>, then put the button where a reader will see it, then keep a plain link as the fallback.

The words in plain English

  • <head> — the hidden top part of a web page’s code, where settings and tags live - visitors never see it, machines read it first.
  • AI Overviews and AI Mode — Google’s own AI answers, shown above or instead of the usual results; Top Stories is its news strip.
  • preferred source — a site a reader has told Google they trust; Google then favours it in that reader’s results and AI answers.

The finished file is in your pack at packs/02-preferred-sources/preferred-sources-button.html.