From SEO to AEO: 10 practical ways higher ed websites can show up in AI and search

Organic traffic patterns are shifting as AI-generated summaries and answer engines increasingly shape how prospective students, parents, faculty and donors discover information. Many institutions are seeing measurable declines in traditional search clicks while expectations for immediate, direct answers continue to rise. For higher education teams that rely heavily on organic visibility for enrollment, program awareness and institutional reputation, this shift requires expanding traditional SEO practices to account for how AI systems interpret and summarize content. This session introduces AEO, or answer engine optimization, as a practical, higher ed-focused framework for adapting your website to serve both human audiences and AI systems. Participants will learn how to clarify institutional positioning, strengthen information architecture, and structure program and research content so it is easier for AI tools to interpret and accurately summarize. The session also explores emerging trends, including Model Context Protocols, and what they may mean for institutional digital strategy over the next one to two years. You will leave with clear, realistic next steps that can be implemented without a full site redesign.