The Evolution of Search With Generative AI: 5 Top Strategies Your University Needs NOW

Search is dramatically evolving—and fast. Generative AI (Gen AI), especially Large Language Models (LLMs), are completely reshaping how information is processed, synthesized, and delivered. This changes how prospective students are influenced and impacts your institution’s visibility.

For today’s prospective college students, “search” is far more than a simple tool to find the best university; it’s what they do first to find the information they need during all stages of their college journey. In a world overflowing with options, your university’s visibility and prominence in these evolving search results can be the deciding factor in whether you’re even on a student’s radar.

I’ve recently had several conversations with university leaders, and one thing is clear: maximizing discoverability in this new, AI-powered era is top of mind. This blog is a direct result of those conversations and aims to cut through the noise to explain the why, what, and how of AI-driven student search.

The WHY: Generative AI-Powered Search

Generative AI (Gen AI) is the powerful application of machine learning that is transforming how information is created, compiled, and presented. Gen AI’s ability to create, summarize, and discover new information is precisely why it has become so crucial to modern online searching.

At the core are LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini that are trained on massive amounts of data to understand and generate human-like language. These models enable students to ask complex, conversational questions like: “Which MBA program is best if I’m working full-time and want to study online?”

LLMs understand the intent behind that question—not just the words. That’s a huge leap from traditional keyword-based search. And the Gen AI is pulling from a vast range of sources, summarizing information, and delivering fast, context-rich answers with relevant links.

The WHAT: AI is Transforming Student Search

1. The rise of conversational search

Search is no longer just about typing in a few keywords and scrolling through results. Today’s prospective students are asking real questions, using full sentences, and expecting immediate, tailored answers whether it’s on Gemini, Siri, or ChatGPT.

In 2025, over 20% of the global population is already using voice search like Siri and Alexa. Many of these searches are like natural conversations—they’re specific, urgent, and detailed. That means your website content needs to be structured to answer these questions directly and naturally.

Your content needs to do more than just match keywords; it needs to thoroughly and thoughtfully answer the actual questions behind what students ask the Gen AI tool. Otherwise, your university could remain hidden from the Gen AI tools students use most.

2. Google AI overviews and AI mode: A new front page

Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) are fundamentally changing the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and content visibility by providing AI-generated summaries at the top. Instead of showing multiple blue links, AIOs serve up AI-generated summaries right at the top—pulling from multiple sources and citing them directly. If your content is cited in the summary, your visibility increases. If not, you might be left out entirely.

Soon, these summaries will be able to have paid ads in them. As part of the release in Google Marketing Live 2025, ads will appear directly within these AI Overviews, creating new high-visibility placements that are essential for maintaining paid visibility. You need to start planning to include AIO ads as part of your paid media strategy. Visibility is no longer about just bidding on keywords—it’s about being where the AI puts attention.

3. The accuracy challenge with LLMs

LLMs, which are also the technology powering AI Overviews, are powerful, but not perfect. They generate answers quickly, but if they lack real-time data, they can “hallucinate” or produce outdated info. Think of it this way—while your institutional content can become part of an AI’s knowledge base, the accuracy and strength of the AI’s responses are heavily dependent on your website’s structure for AI discoverability and the completeness and timeliness of your content on key pages like academic programs, faculty profiles, research archives, financial aid and student success stories.

However, students do not just take the face value of a summary. They want to dive deeper. Interestingly, AI assistants often pull from forums like Reddit or Quora. That’s a signal: clarity, authenticity, and helpfulness now compete with traditional authority. If your content sounds genuinely human and directly answers real student questions, it’s more likely to be cited by these tools and trusted by prospective students.

The HOW: Strategic Content for the AI Era

We are firmly in the age of Search + Chat. For universities’ content creators and marketing teams, this means adapting your strategy to a hybrid model where optimizing for both traditional search engines and AI citations is crucial. It’s no longer about ranking high on Google; it’s about being part of the conversation students are having with AI.

Just as prompt engineers craft inputs for LLMs, your content needs to “prompt” search AI effectively. This means creating well-structured, meaningful content that makes it easy for AI to understand and cite your information. This adds a layer of sophistication to content optimization, moving us toward what some call Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Think of it as SEO, reimagined for an AI-first search environment.

Top 5 GEO Strategies You Can Focus on Now

1. Topic-focused content

Move beyond program name focus to cover broader topics comprehensively, addressing full student intent. For example, instead of just “Best Online MBA,” create content around “Which MBA program is the best while balancing a full-time job?” or “career paths in business analytics” or “balancing graduate studies with work.” This helps AI understand the full context, making your university’s degree program’s content relevant for diverse student queries.

2. Answer-focused structure

Use short, digestible sections with clear, question-based headings. For example, “When are the application deadlines for fall 2025?” or “How do I schedule a campus tour?” Include plain-text facts and data-driven claims (e.g., graduate employment rates, program rankings, faculty research impact). Content with specific data is 40% more likely to appear in LLM responses.

3. Build authority (E-E-A-T)

AI models favor content that signals Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. For universities, this means transparently displaying faculty qualifications, publishing original research, program rankings, and highlighting alumni success, through testimonials. Strong E-E-A-T signals trustworthiness to AI, crucial for students making significant educational decisions. This isn’t just for humans, it’s how AI decides your credibility.

4. Structured data and schema markup to speak AI’s language

Think of schema markup as a universal translator for your website. It’s code you add to your pages that tells AI models and search engines what specific pieces of information mean, not just what they say. For example:

• You can mark up your academic programs as “Courses,” detailing credit hours, learning outcomes, and faculty.
• Your events (like campus tours or info sessions) can be identified as “Events” with dates, times, and locations.
• Faculty profiles can be marked as “Persons,” highlighting their name, title, department, and research interests.
• Testimonials can be flagged as “Reviews,” complete with star ratings and reviewer names.

Why this matters: When AI understands the precise context of your content, it can extract accurate information more effectively. This dramatically boosts your visibility in AI Overviews, rich snippets, and voice search.

5. AI crawler accessibility

For AI models to learn from your website, they first need to be able to “read” it. This means ensuring your university’s websites and program pages are fully accessible to AI crawlers.

• Check your robots.txt file: This file tells web crawlers (including those used by AI) which parts of your site they can and cannot access. Make sure it’s not inadvertently blocking important academic programs, admissions details, or faculty research sections.
• Handle JavaScript-heavy elements: Many modern university sites use JavaScript for interactive elements like program finders, application portals, or dynamic course catalogs. If not set up correctly, AI crawlers might not “see” the content generated by this JavaScript. Consider Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or Static Site Generation (SSG) to ensure this critical content is visible to crawlers.

If AI crawlers can’t access your academic program content, it won’t be discoverable by AI- powered search.

Final Thoughts: Show Up Where It Counts

The AI-driven evolution of student search isn’t a distant prediction—it’s happening now. My conversations with campus partners consistently confirms this: AI isn’t replacing traditional student search, but profoundly reshaping how students search, find, trust, and act on information.

The smartest path forward isn’t choosing between Google and AI chat tools. It’s using both. This is a powerful convergence where AI assistants deliver fast, personalized insights, while Google Search provides foundational depth, structure and authority.

Ask yourself: Is your content part of that journey? Is it fresh, factual, and findableAI and traditional search? For higher ed marketing and enrollment management professionals seeking to make a lasting impact, the answer is clear: Be the answer in both places.

At RNL, we’re committed to helping universities stay discoverable throughout the entire funnel—from awareness to inquiry to application and enrollment. We care deeply about the student journey too, and we know how critical it is for students to find the right-fit institutions at the right time. That’s why we stay agile—continuously evolving our strategies to meet students where they are and help institutions show up early, stay relevant, and convert when it counts.