AI search and admissions: make sure applicants get the right answers

Ask a parent how they started looking at schools, or a student how they built their university shortlist, and you’ll hear a familiar mix: a website, a friend’s recommendation, an open event. More and more often, you’ll also hear “I asked ChatGPT”.

That’s a super opportunity for education providers, because AI tools can help families and applicants get to know you faster. It also comes with a catch. AI tools don’t always get it right, and when they get your fees, entry requirements or dates wrong, families start their journey with you on the wrong foot.

The good news is that a few practical steps can make a big difference. Here’s what’s changing, and what your team can do about it this week.

How families and applicants are researching you now

UCAS surveyed 4,485 potential applicants, applicants, and first-year undergraduates in November 2025. Of those who use AI, nearly half (48%) said they had used it to explore their higher education options. Of those, 61% had used it to compare universities, 59% to explore subject choices and 52% to look up entry requirements.

Families choosing schools are moving in the same direction. A survey of 2,000 parents by The Good Schools Guide in August 2025 found that almost a quarter (23%) now use social media or AI when weighing up schools. That rises to 37% among Gen Z parents. Fewer than a third (31%) had used an Ofsted report.

Families still want to speak to you, but by the time they do, they’ve often already formed a view.

Why accurate answers start with your own website

In the same UCAS research, 43% of respondents said university websites were their first port of call, compared with 13% who would start with a chatbot. And 73% said they had recognised or received incorrect information from AI before.

Real experiences still count for far more than AI. A disappointing open day would knock a university off the shortlist for 48% of respondents, compared with just 8% for a negative AI review.

So families and applicants are using AI, but they still check what you say. Your website is where they go to confirm the answer, and it’s also one of the main places AI tools draw from. If a fee table, an application deadline or an open day date on your site is out of date or hard to find, that mistake can be repeated far beyond your own pages.

Keeping your website clear, current and complete is the single most useful thing you can do for how you appear in AI answers.

Three checks your team can make this week

You don’t need a big project to get started. Set aside an hour with a colleague from marketing and one from admissions.

• Run an AI answer check - Ask two AI tools the questions a family or applicant would ask about you: what are your fees, what are your entry requirements, when is your next open event, and how do I apply? Note anything that’s wrong, missing or out of date.
• Check your key facts in one place - List the facts families rely on most, such as fees, deadlines, entry points, open event dates and contact details. Check each one on your website, and remove or update anything from previous years.
• Look for unanswered questions - Pick the five questions your admissions team answers most often by email or phone. Is each one clearly answered on your website? If not, that’s where a family, or an AI tool, will look elsewhere.

Turn common questions into clearer pages

Once you know the gaps, the fixes are usually simple:

• Answer one question per section, with a clear heading that matches how families ask it, such as “How much are the fees?”
• Put dates and figures in plain text, so they’re easy for people and AI tools to read, rather than only in images or PDFs.
• Keep one source of truth for each fact, so your fees page, prospectus page and FAQs all say the same thing.
• Add a “last updated” habit, with a named person reviewing key pages each term or intake.

These changes help every visitor, whether they arrive from a search engine, an AI tool or a link in your newsletter.

Use your enquiry data to see what people are really asking

Your enquiry forms, emails and chats already tell you which questions matter most to families. When enquiries are captured in your CRM, you can spot patterns, such as lots of questions about bursaries, transport or January entry. You can then make sure your website answers them before the next family has to ask.

It also helps your team. If an enquiry arrives with a question your site already answers, that’s a sign the page may need to be clearer. If the same question keeps coming up, it could become a new page or a useful email in your nurture journey.

Where HubSpot and HubGem can help

If your website and enquiries live in HubSpot, you’re already in a strong position, because your content and your enquiry data sit side by side. Enquiries from HubSpot forms and the conversations inbox are captured in one place, so your reports can show which questions come up most.

HubSpot has also introduced HubSpot AEO, which shows how your organisation appears in answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, with recommendations to improve. It’s included in Marketing Hub Pro and Enterprise, and is also available on its own.

Want a clear picture of what to fix first? Our HubSpot Portal Audit reviews how your portal and website work together, and gives you a prioritised roadmap your team can act on.

If you’d like your team to feel confident using tools like this, our AI Masterclass is a six-week programme shaped around how your organisation works. One full week focuses on AEO and AI for marketers, so your content reaches more families and gives them the right answers.

Your next step

Families and applicants will keep using AI to research their options, and that’s no bad thing. When your website gives clear, current answers, those tools have the right information to share, and people arrive at your door with the right expectations.

Start with the AI answer check this week. If it turns up more questions than answers, we’d love to help.

FAQs

Can we control what AI tools say about our organisation?

Not directly, but you can have a big influence. AI tools draw heavily on your own website, so clear, current and consistent information gives them the best chance of getting your answers right. Running a regular AI answer check shows you where things stand.

Do we need HubSpot AEO to get started?

No. The AI answer check in this blog costs nothing and takes about an hour. If you’re on Marketing Hub Pro or Enterprise, or use HubSpot AEO on its own, it helps you keep track over time and suggests what to improve.

How often should we check our key facts?

At least once a term or intake, and whenever fees, deadlines, entry requirements or open event dates change. Giving each key page a named owner makes this much easier to keep up.