Redefining Visibility: 6 Ways Colleges Can Prepare for the AI Search Shift

The Adoption of Generative Engines for College Search

Today’s prospective students are skipping traditional paths to your website. Instead, they’re turning to AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) to ask complex, nuanced questions. They’re getting instant, summarized answers, often without ever seeing your institution’s website.

Based on OHO’s usability studies and interviews with Gen Z prospective students, we're seeing clear patterns:

• More than 60% of students report using AI tools like ChatGPT in the early stages of college research
• Google is perceived as “for parents” or "for homework"–while AI tools are used for candid, real-time exploration
• Search behavior is becoming conversational, not keyword-driven. Students ask: 
  "Whats the best nursing program in New England that doesn't require test scores?"
  "Which colleges have the highest ROI for psychology majors?"
• High use, but low influence (for now). In OHO's research about student behaviors, we found that prospective students are using similar queries that they use in search engines. And, while generative AI use is increasing, the impact and influence remains low. In the findings, only 8% of participants reported that generative AI influenced their decisions.

Generative engines synthesize content, meaning you're no longer optimizing for position on a page, you're competing to be quoted in the answer.

If your website doesn't offer clearly structured, machine-trustworthy content? You may not be part of the conversation. The AI will likely cite a third-party source instead.

What AI Prioritizes (and What It Ignores)

While we can’t fully peek inside the black box of large language models (LLMs), patterns are emerging about how to prepare and “optimize” your web content. 

Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity increasingly favor content that is:

• Clear: Answers appear early in the copy, often in the first 1–2 sentences.
• Canonical: Facts live in a single, authoritative location—not scattered across pages.
• Structured: Content includes summary boxes, tables, anchors, and schema markup.
• Fresh: Pages are dated, updated regularly, and free of stale or conflicting information.
• Crawler-readable: Data is available in structured formats like JSON or CSV next to the page. Like good SEO, these GEO (Generative Experience Optimization)  best practices can help clarify your website for users and for web crawlers. 
   

Creating Web Content that Generative AI Uses & Trusts

While these principles are true for any content, we’re considering the point of view of prospective students and how to “optimize” a college or university website to increase the likelihood of content being included in LLMs. This space is rapidly changing and the “best practices” are evolving.

1. Start With the Questions Prospective Students Are Asking

Before redesigning pages or adding new content, begin by identifying the most important questions prospective students are asking. These might include “What’s the application deadline for transfer students?” or “Does this college require the SAT?” Use tools like Google Search Console, ChatGPT, and live student research to build a prioritized list.

Then, map each question to a single, authoritative page or section. This helps ensure consistency, avoids duplication, and prevents conflicting answers — which are red flags for AI models. Think of this as shifting from a page-first mindset to a question-first strategy.

2. Create Canonical “Fact Pages”

A canonical page is the one true source of a specific fact or policy — not a blog post, not a news article, not a PDF attachment. For topics like application requirements, tuition, or degree structure, these “fact pages” should be easy to find, clearly written, and kept up to date.

Why does this matter? Generative tools value clarity and consistency. If a student asks “When is the regular decision deadline?” your site should have one definitive answer — not three variations scattered across pages. Fact pages reduce noise, improve accuracy, and increase your odds of being cited.

3. Add Bot-Readable Data Files (JSON & CSV)

AI models and search engines don’t just scan text – they also crawl structured data formats like JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and CSV (Comma-Separated Values). These files present facts in a clean, machine-digestible format. Think of it as a dataset version of your webpage.

For every fact page, include a downloadable JSON file (like /admissions/undergraduate/data.json) that mirrors the key facts shown on the page. 

These files should include structured representations of:

• Application deadlines, clearly labeled with time zones and cycle types (e.g., Early Action, Regular Decision)
• Required materials, like transcripts, essays, and recommendation letters
• Test policy, including whether SAT/ACT is optional or required and until when
• Key contact information, including email and phone for the responsible office
• Cost breakdowns, if applicable (e.g., tuition, housing, fees)

Each fact page may benefit from having its own local JSON file located in the same directory as the content. This localized structure increases trustworthiness and makes it easier for machines to associate data with its context. To improve discoverability, create a central index at /data/ linking to all structured data files. Just avoid duplicating data — always link to the original source of truth.

4. Use Schema.org to Provide Signals

Schema.org is a standardized vocabulary that helps search engines and AI models understand the meaning of your content. By adding schema markup (written in a format called JSON-LD) you can explicitly tell crawlers: “This page is about our undergraduate admissions deadlines” or “This program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.”

Different types of schema apply to different types of content:

• CollegeOrUniversity: This type is designed to describe an institution of higher education. It includes properties like name, address, sameAs (for social media), and URL. Ideal for your About page or site-wide use.
• FAQPage: Use this when you present questions and answers on a page (like admissions FAQs). It helps Google and AI tools generate rich snippets or direct answers.
• EducationalOccupationalProgram: Perfect for program detail pages. This schema describes academic programs including duration, credential awarded, application deadlines, and occupational category (based on U.S. SOC codes).

Adding schema improves visibility in both traditional search and AI-powered results. It’s one of the most powerful technical ways to signal credibility.

5. Structure Content for Both Bots and Humans

AI models scan your site the same way humans do, but with even less patience for ambiguity. That means your content should be structured and labeled clearly:

• Use short, atomic facts (like “Student–faculty ratio: 9:1”)
• Include named anchors for easy reference
• Use tables over prose when listing costs, deadlines, or requirements

Avoid hiding key details in PDFs or inaccessible formats. Use consistent language across the site — for example, always refer to “Application Deadline” instead of mixing terms like “When to Apply” or “Due Date.” And make sure each page has a clear canonical tag to prevent duplication.

6. Reduce Contradiction and Duplication

Nothing erodes trust faster — for humans or machines — than conflicting answers. Run a site audit to identify all mentions of key facts (deadlines, costs, policies) and consolidate them to your canonical fact pages. Redirect or remove duplicates, and add noindex tags to pages that aren’t meant to rank or be cited.

Make sure your XML sitemap — the file that search engines use to understand your site’s structure — includes only the current, trusted pages. This step is often overlooked, but it plays a major role in how AIs determine what to crawl and what to trust.

Final Thought: This Isn't SEO 2.0–It's a Visibility Reset

SEO focused on rankings and clicks. GEO is about being selected and cited in answers. The winners are the ones who get quoted — and whose brand comes through in that one-sentence AI summary.

While many of these recommendations may seem technical and un-creative, applying them can help human and machine users access your marketing content and take the next step in their prospective student journey.