diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/RuleNotificationSection.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/RuleNotificationSection.tsx
index 768b547edc8..c52a53a6c56 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/RuleNotificationSection.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/RuleNotificationSection.tsx
@@ -1,15 +1,35 @@
 import { css } from '@emotion/css';
-import { useMemo, useState } from 'react';
+import { useMemo } from 'react';
+import { useFormContext } from 'react-hook-form';
 
 import { notificationsAPIv0alpha1 } from '@grafana/alerting/unstable';
 import type { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
 import { Trans, t } from '@grafana/i18n';
-import { Button, Combobox, ComboboxOption, Field, Input, Stack, TextArea, TextLink, useStyles2 } from '@grafana/ui';
+import {
+  Button,
+  Combobox,
+  ComboboxOption,
+  Field,
+  Input,
+  Stack,
+  Switch,
+  Text,
+  TextArea,
+  TextLink,
+  useStyles2,
+} from '@grafana/ui';
+
+import { RuleFormValues } from '../types/rule-form';
+
+import { NeedHelpInfoForNotificationPolicy } from './rule-editor/NotificationsStep';
 
 export function RuleNotificationSection() {
   const styles = useStyles2(getStyles);
 
-  const [contactPoint, setContactPoint] = useState<ComboboxOption<string> | null>(null);
+  const { watch, setValue } = useFormContext<RuleFormValues>();
+  const manualRouting = watch('manualRouting');
+  const useNotificationPolicy = !manualRouting;
+  const selectedContactPoint = watch('contactPoints.grafana.selectedContactPoint');
   // Fetch contact points from Alerting API v0alpha1
   const { currentData, status, refetch } = notificationsAPIv0alpha1.endpoints.listReceiver.useQuery({});
   const options = useMemo<Array<ComboboxOption<string>>>(
@@ -35,49 +55,95 @@ export function RuleNotificationSection() {
       <div className={styles.contentIndented}>
         <Stack direction="column" gap={2}>
           <Field
-            label={t('alerting.simplified.notification.contact-point.label', 'Contact point')}
-            description={t(
-              'alerting.simplified.notification.contact-point.description',
-              'Select who should receive a notification when the alert rule fires'
-            )}
+            label={
+              <Stack direction="row" alignItems="center" justifyContent="space-between" gap={1}>
+                <span>{t('alerting.simplified.notification.recipient.label', 'Recipient')}</span>
+                <Stack direction="row" alignItems="center" gap={0.5}>
+                  <Text variant="bodySmall" color="secondary">
+                    {t('alerting.simplified.notification.manual-routing.label', 'Manual routing')}
+                  </Text>
+                  <Switch
+                    value={manualRouting}
+                    onChange={(e) => {
+                      const next = e.currentTarget.checked;
+                      setValue('manualRouting', next, { shouldDirty: true });
+                      setValue('editorSettings.simplifiedNotificationEditor', next, { shouldDirty: true });
+                    }}
+                    aria-label={t('alerting.simplified.notification.manual-routing.aria', 'Toggle manual routing')}
+                  />
+                </Stack>
+              </Stack>
+            }
             noMargin
           >
-            <Stack direction="row" gap={1} alignItems="center">
-              <Combobox<ComboboxOption<string>['value']>
-                options={options}
-                value={contactPoint}
-                onChange={(opt) => setContactPoint(opt)}
-                width={30}
-                placeholder={t('alerting.simplified.notification.select-contact-point', 'Select a contact point...')}
-                isClearable
-                data-testid="contact-point"
-                loading={status === 'pending'}
-              />
-              <Button
-                icon="sync"
-                variant="secondary"
-                fill="text"
-                size="sm"
-                aria-label={t('alerting.common.refresh', 'Refresh')}
-                onClick={() => {
-                  if (refetch) {
-                    refetch();
-                  }
-                }}
-              />
-              <TextLink
-                external
-                href={'/alerting/notifications'}
-                aria-label={t(
-                  'alerting.link-to-contact-points.aria-label-view-or-create-contact-points',
-                  'View or create contact points'
-                )}
-              >
-                <Trans i18nKey="alerting.link-to-contact-points.view-or-create-contact-points">
-                  View or create contact points
-                </Trans>
-              </TextLink>
-            </Stack>
+            {useNotificationPolicy ? (
+              <div className={styles.contentTopSpacer}>
+                <Stack direction="column" gap={1} alignItems="start">
+                  <Text variant="bodySmall" color="secondary">
+                    <Trans i18nKey="alerting.simplified.notification.policy-selected">
+                      Notifications for firing alerts are routed to contact points based on matching labels and the
+                      notification policy tree.
+                    </Trans>
+                  </Text>
+                  <NeedHelpInfoForNotificationPolicy />
+                </Stack>
+              </div>
+            ) : (
+              <div className={styles.contentTopSpacer}>
+                <Stack direction="column" gap={1}>
+                  <Text variant="bodySmall" color="secondary">
+                    <Trans i18nKey="alerting.simplified.notification.contact-point-selected">
+                      Notifications for firing alerts are routed to a selected contact point.
+                    </Trans>
+                  </Text>
+                  <Stack direction="row" gap={1} alignItems="center">
+                    <Combobox<ComboboxOption<string>['value']>
+                      options={options}
+                      value={
+                        selectedContactPoint ? (options.find((o) => o.value === selectedContactPoint) ?? null) : null
+                      }
+                      onChange={(opt) =>
+                        setValue('contactPoints.grafana.selectedContactPoint', opt?.value ?? '', {
+                          shouldDirty: true,
+                        })
+                      }
+                      width={30}
+                      placeholder={t(
+                        'alerting.simplified.notification.select-contact-point',
+                        'Select a contact point...'
+                      )}
+                      isClearable
+                      data-testid="contact-point"
+                      loading={status === 'pending'}
+                    />
+                    <Button
+                      icon="sync"
+                      variant="secondary"
+                      fill="text"
+                      size="sm"
+                      aria-label={t('alerting.common.refresh', 'Refresh')}
+                      onClick={() => {
+                        if (refetch) {
+                          refetch();
+                        }
+                      }}
+                    />
+                    <TextLink
+                      external
+                      href={'/alerting/notifications'}
+                      aria-label={t(
+                        'alerting.link-to-contact-points.aria-label-view-or-create-contact-points',
+                        'View or create contact points'
+                      )}
+                    >
+                      <Trans i18nKey="alerting.link-to-contact-points.view-or-create-contact-points">
+                        View or create contact points
+                      </Trans>
+                    </TextLink>
+                  </Stack>
+                </Stack>
+              </div>
+            )}
           </Field>
 
           <Field label={t('alerting.simplified.notification.summary.label', 'Summary (optional)')} noMargin>
@@ -139,5 +205,6 @@ function getStyles(theme: GrafanaTheme2) {
       fontWeight: 600,
     }),
     contentIndented: css({ marginLeft: `calc(20px + ${theme.spacing(1)})` }),
+    contentTopSpacer: css({ marginTop: theme.spacing(0.5) }),
   };
 }
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/NotificationsStep.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/NotificationsStep.tsx
index 3a7c3d45e7c..8aa310bf012 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/NotificationsStep.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/rule-editor/NotificationsStep.tsx
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ function AutomaticRooting({ alertUid }: AutomaticRootingProps) {
 }
 
 // Auxiliar components to build the texts and descriptions in the NotificationsStep
-function NeedHelpInfoForNotificationPolicy() {
+export function NeedHelpInfoForNotificationPolicy() {
   return (
     <NeedHelpInfo
       contentText={
diff --git a/public/locales/en-US/grafana.json b/public/locales/en-US/grafana.json
index 9bd3d847c2f..38030465c6d 100644
--- a/public/locales/en-US/grafana.json
+++ b/public/locales/en-US/grafana.json
@@ -2824,14 +2824,19 @@
         "immediate-warning": "Immediate firing might lead to unnecessary alerts being sent for temporary issues"
       },
       "notification": {
-        "contact-point": {
-          "description": "Select who should receive a notification when the alert rule fires",
-          "label": "Contact point"
-        },
+        "contact-point-selected": "Notifications for firing alerts are routed to a selected contact point.",
         "description": {
           "label": "Description (optional)",
           "placeholder": "Enter a description of what the alert rule does…"
         },
+        "manual-routing": {
+          "aria": "Toggle manual routing",
+          "label": "Manual routing"
+        },
+        "policy-selected": "Notifications for firing alerts are routed to contact points based on matching labels and the notification policy tree.",
+        "recipient": {
+          "label": "Recipient"
+        },
         "runbook-url": {
           "label": "Runbook URL (optional)",
           "placeholder": "Enter the webpage where you keep your runbook for the alert…"