How AI is transforming independent school admissions

Even just a few years ago this could have meant hours – if not days – spent researching websites and prospectuses, pouring over social feeds and calling admissions teams.

Today, Anna simply asks a generative AI assistant to do the work for her. Within minutes, she has a tailored shortlist, fee comparisons, and excerpts from parent reviews. The AI assistant will possibly even ask if she’d like all of this in a language and format that is appropriate for her 11 year old child. For families like Anna’s, AI platforms – like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot – are streamlining what was once a daunting and time-consuming process at the start of the search for a new school, allowing them to ask complex, highly specific questions and receive instant, personalised answers. With the announcement in July that OpenAi is launching its own browser, this trend is set to continue.

What’s more, this shift in the search process is arriving at a time when the cost of independent education has risen significantly—faster than wage inflation over the past decade. As a result, more parents are approaching school selection with a “customer mindset” first and a “parent mindset” second. They want value, fit, and clarity – and increasingly, they’re using AI tools to find it.

Rethinking school marketing and admissions

As AI becomes a more important part of the parent journey, marketing and admissions strategies need to evolve to optimise content for AI discovery or ‘Generative Engine Optimisation’ (GEO) as it is becoming known.

Unlike SEO, which aims to boost rankings in traditional search engine results pages (SERPs), GEO is about ensuring your content gets cited, referenced, or integrated into AI-generated answers. The following simple considerations will help:

1. Consistency, accuracy and repetition

Whatever you want to say about your school, say it often, with consistent language and across multiple platforms. The content on your own website and other third-party sites should be well written, up to date and presented in a way that is easy for the Large Language Models (LLMs) that power AI assistants like ChatGPT to understand and use in the answers to prompts about your school.

This will keep your most important messages at the forefront for GEO (and of course good old-fashioned SEO).

What might this look like in practice?  Your school is shortlisted for an award in the category of performing arts excellence. Your performance programme is one of your key selling points in admissions. To promote the award, use consistent language from your school’s key messages and proposition (here’s a tip – make sure you have a clear proposition, stories and key messages that are used across the school). Use these to write a blog by your head of drama on the school website, promote the blog on your social channels, send an email to key stakeholders that includes your key messages at the top with easy to share content that they can use on their own channels. And finally, promote it in sector or local media to get coverage that gives you a second bite at the digital cherry, sharing links to the coverage with prospective parents. This last point about media is really important as it’s no longer just about the audience of the media itself. Media coverage has an intrinsic value in GEO.

2. The value of earned media

A recent report from marketing consultancy Hard Numbers found that, on average, earned media sources were cited 61% of the time by ChatGPT when responding to questions about the reputation of 100 of the world’s largest brands. Similarly, SEO software provider Ahrefs, looked at the factors which most strongly correlate with a brand appearing within Google AI Overviews. The most common factor was “branded web mentions” – which can be better understood as mentions of your school on third party websites.

So, prioritise getting consistent, easy to read content that reflects your core proposition not only on your own channels but also on third party websites and media.

3. Tailored messaging for specific needs

Because AI allows for personalised searching, families often ask questions about very specific needs and interests. Schools must respond with messaging that speaks directly to those needs. Rather than one generic narrative, develop modular content that can be repurposed across platforms—short videos, testimonials, blog posts, and staff Q&As that reflect diverse aspects of school life. using plain, jargon-free language.

A new era of discovery

Generative AI is not replacing the human elements of school choice or the importance of human interaction and brilliant visit experiences, but it is reshaping how and when those moments happen. Parents now arrive at open days with highly informed expectations. Many have already formed impressions based on digital content curated by AI tools.

For marketing and admissions professionals, this means rethinking not just what is said—but how and where it’s said. Schools that embrace AI’s potential while also telling compelling stories and providing a first-class service to prospective parents will be better placed to connect with the right families, at the right time and in the right way.