MC1310687 - Authoritative Sites for SharePoint in Microsoft Copilot

Updated June 3, 2026: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

Authoritative Sites enables administrators to designate specific SharePoint sites as trusted sources of organizational information. By prioritizing content from these sites in Copilot Chat and Copilot Search, this feature improves content reliability, enhances search relevance, and helps users quickly find accurate company information. This capability supports stronger governance and aligns Copilot responses with verified organizational content.

When this will happen:

• Public Preview (Worldwide): We began rolling out in mid-May 2026 and expect to complete by late May 2026.
• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out on mid-June 2026 and expect to complete by late June 2026.

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

• SharePoint Online administrators
• Microsoft 365 administrators managing Copilot and search experiences
• Users interacting with Copilot Chat and Copilot Search
• A Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) license is required to use this feature

What will happen:

• Admins can designate SharePoint sites as authoritative using PowerShell.
• Content from authoritative sites will be prioritized in Copilot Chat responses and Copilot Search results.
• Users will see clearer indicators of trusted content in the user experience.

Screenshot: Example showing results labeled “From your organization,” helping users quickly identify trusted, internal content:



• The feature is off by default until configured by an admin.
• No changes occur to existing SharePoint permissions or content access.
• Improved relevance and trust in AI-driven responses grounded in authoritative content.

What you can do to prepare:

• Identify key SharePoint sites (for example: HR, Legal, Communications) that should be marked as authoritative.
• Configure authoritative sites using SharePoint Online PowerShell. Before running the commands, ensure the latest SharePoint Online Management Shell is installed.

Set-SPOSite -Identity "https://<tenant>.sharepoint.com/sites/<siteName>" -IsAuthoritative $true

• Validate configuration in Copilot Search and Chat experiences.
• Pilot with a limited group of users.
• Gather feedback and refine site selection.
• Update internal documentation and inform helpdesk teams.
• Review the following Learn article: SharePoint Authoritative Sites in Copilot Search

Compliance considerations: