Google preferred source.

A Google preferred source is a publisher a signed-in user has marked as preferred in Google Search, which raises that source’s prominence in the user’s Top Stories and related result surfaces. For brands, accumulated preferred-source selections are a durable, user-granted visibility asset that competitors cannot buy back with ads.

A reader selects a publisher as a preferred source. Google can show more of that publisher in supported search features when relevant content is available. The preference belongs to that reader; it does not guarantee placement for every query or increase everyone else's rankings.