Most enterprise software vendors think about their resource hub the same way: a library of white papers, implementation guides, and product documentation. Useful, yes. But for many of these vendors (particularly in the EHR space), the resource hub has become a place where buyers go to understand what's happening in the market right now.
If your content team publishes regulatory filings, interoperability deadlines, M&A activity or industry studies, you are, functionally, running an industry newsdesk. And if that's true, Google's Preferred Sources feature deserves a close look.
What Preferred Sources actually does
Preferred Sources launched in the US in August 2025 and rolled out globally for English-language users in December of the same year. Essentially, readers see a star icon next to the Top Stories carousel in Google Search results. They click it, choose the sites they want to follow, and Google prioritises those outlets in their future Top Stories results. A dedicated "From your sources" section appears on results pages for those users, separate from the standard algorithmic feed.
Nick Fox, Google's SVP of Knowledge & Information, noted that when a reader selects a site as a preferred source, they click through to that site “twice as often.”
Importantly, this doesn't replace Google's normal ranking signals. It layers on top of them; a reader who hasn't used the feature sees Top Stories as usual. One who has will see your content prioritised when you publish something relevant to their search.
Why this matters more for B2B publishers than most people realise
The conversation around Preferred Sources has mostly centred on traditional news outlets like the BBCs and Wired's of the world. However, the feature is available to any domain-level site that appears in Google's source preferences tool. That includes B2B publishers who've built a genuine editorial voice around their sector.
Think about what buyers actually search for during an EHR or ERP selection project on top of their research on features and use cases. They're tracking what's happening in the industry right now: which regulations are changing, what analysts are saying about consolidation, how peers are handling implementation challenges. The vendor whose content they encounter most consistently during that research period earns a different kind of trust than the one they find once.
If a buyer has already found your coverage useful (e.g. your breakdown of an ONC final rule, your analysis of a merger or acquisition), that's precisely the kind of reader you want to nudge towards adding you as a preferred source. They already trust your editorial judgment, you just need to make it easy for them to formalise that relationship with one click.
How to ask Readers without being heavy-handed about it
The mechanics Google provides are straightforward. You can direct readers to a ‘deeplink’ formatted as:
https://google.com/preferences/source?q=yoursite.com
Google also has button assets available for those who want a polished CTA that matches the feature's visual language.
Where you place that ask matters, so here are a few approaches worth considering:
Newsletter footers: If you publish a regulatory digest or a weekly market roundup, your newsletter audience is already demonstrating that they value your coverage enough to subscribe.
After high-engagement articles
A short explainer post
One caveat worth flagging: Google currently doesn't provide publishers with direct analytics for Preferred Sources traffic. You can track clicks on your on-page CTAs and watch for indirect signals like increased return visit rates from organic search, but there's no dedicated report yet (accurate as of 20th April, 2026).
The conversation around Preferred Sources has mostly centred on traditional news outlets like the BBCs and Wired's of the world. However, the feature is available to any domain-level site that appears in Google's source preferences tool. That includes B2B publishers who've built a genuine editorial voice around their sector.
Think about what buyers actually search for during an EHR or ERP selection project on top of their research on features and use cases. They're tracking what's happening in the industry right now: which regulations are changing, what analysts are saying about consolidation, how peers are handling implementation challenges. The vendor whose content they encounter most consistently during that research period earns a different kind of trust than the one they find once.
If a buyer has already found your coverage useful (e.g. your breakdown of an ONC final rule, your analysis of a merger or acquisition), that's precisely the kind of reader you want to nudge towards adding you as a preferred source. They already trust your editorial judgment, you just need to make it easy for them to formalise that relationship with one click.
How to ask Readers without being heavy-handed about it
The mechanics Google provides are straightforward. You can direct readers to a ‘deeplink’ formatted as:
https://google.com/preferences/source?q=yoursite.com
Google also has button assets available for those who want a polished CTA that matches the feature's visual language.
Where you place that ask matters, so here are a few approaches worth considering:
Newsletter footers: If you publish a regulatory digest or a weekly market roundup, your newsletter audience is already demonstrating that they value your coverage enough to subscribe.
After high-engagement articles
A short explainer post
One caveat worth flagging: Google currently doesn't provide publishers with direct analytics for Preferred Sources traffic. You can track clicks on your on-page CTAs and watch for indirect signals like increased return visit rates from organic search, but there's no dedicated report yet (accurate as of 20th April, 2026).
Newsletter footers: If you publish a regulatory digest or a weekly market roundup, your newsletter audience is already demonstrating that they value your coverage enough to subscribe.
After high-engagement articles
A short explainer post
