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PROLOGUE
Is Your School Invisible to ChatGPT?
It's a Sunday night in October. A mom is at the kitchen table after the kids are down, laptop open, doing the research she's been putting off. A year ago, she would have typed "best private schools near me" into Google and clicked around for an hour.
Tonight she opens ChatGPT and types: "We're moving to town. What are the best schools for a shy third-grader who loves art?"
Ten seconds later, she has a list. Three schools, a sentence on each, why they fit her kid. She didn't see ten blue links. She didn't visit a single website. She got an answer.
Here's the question that should keep you up at night: was your school on the list? And if it was, who wrote the sentence?
Because someone did. The AI pulled it from your website, your reviews, your news coverage, and the way other people describe you online. If those sources are thin or stale, the AI either skips you or makes up something generic. You don't get to see it happen, and you don't get a second chance at that kitchen table.
This isn't next year's problem. AI Overviews already answer a chunk of searches before anyone clicks. The shift is here; most schools just can't see it yet.
A few moves, none of them heavy:
Ask the question yourself. Open ChatGPT tonight and search the way a parent would. Read what it says about you. That's your new front door.
Feed it better facts. Tuition, grades served, what makes you different — stated plainly on your own pages, not buried in a PDF.
Get the reviews. AI leans on what others say about you. A wall of recent Google reviews is now SEO.
For twenty years, we optimized for the search bar. The search bar is quietly becoming a conversation, and your school is being described in it whether you've checked or not.
When did you last ask the AI what it tells parents about your school?
Thanks,
Brendan
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UPCOMING EVENT
For MarCom Society Members Only
How to Hire for Marketing + Admission Offices
Struggling with team misalignment, communication gaps, or hiring challenges in your school? In this webinar, Miriam Stein of Thrive Hive will share proven strategies using the Six Types of Working Genius framework to help school leaders, admissions teams, HR professionals, and business offices build stronger, more aligned teams.
✅ Improve school team collaboration
✅ Hire smarter and reduce turnover
✅ Boost productivity and team morale
Bio: Miriam Stein is a graduate of an independent day school and an educator at heart. She served as the upper school director of admission at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, part of a team responsible for maintaining the school’s 1000-student enrollment. After more than 20 years in education and in strategic enrollment, she moved into the world of consulting with Thrive Hive to help school professionals around the country with teamwork, collaboration and enrollment strategy. Miriam is a regular presenter for EMA, AISAP, Niche, FinalSite, Prizmah, and others.
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