Universities nationwide are grappling with the AI revolution in student search behavior. More and more students are using AI to research programs. They're asking detailed questions and having conversations with AI tools about degrees, career outcomes, and admissions. But traditional search strategies weren’t built for this shift, and many universities are finding their program content doesn’t appear in the answers.

To address this shift, the University of Kansas School (KU) of Business built a content strategy focused on longtail keywords—specific, detailed search phrases students use when researching programs. Rather than targeting broad terms like “MBA programs,” the strategy focused on answering the exact questions prospective students ask.

Rather than competing for high-volume, generic keywords like "online MBA programs" or "top MBA programs," KU School of Business focused on the specific intent of prospective students.

The team began by gathering actual questions from:

• Admissions counselor conversations
• Live chat transcripts
• Email inquiries
• Leverage keywords from SEO tools
• Student forums

KU School of Business restructured their content approach:

• Transformed promotional statements into question-based formats
• Leveraged longtail keywords to target high-intent searches
• Published detailed "how-to" content for application processes

The marketing team organized content into clear hierarchical structures:

• Program pages served as central hubs
• Topic clusters branched out to address specific aspects
• Blog posts that answered highly specific questions
• All content linked strategically to establish topical authority

Content was formatted specifically for AI understanding:

• Strategically placed search volume backed questions into headers for optimization
• Structured data markup provided machine-readable context
• Content was updated in accordance with search trends to maintain freshness signals

We shifted from institutional promotion to directly addressing the questions prospective students actually ask AI systems. This fundamental change in perspective transformed the content strategy and significantly improved visibility.

Pages that answer specific questions like "How to become a leader in healthcare administration with a KU MBA" dramatically outperform general program pages in AI results, despite having lower traditional search volume.

When users search for leadership-related queries, KU's highly targeted content now appears prominently in AI Overviews, creating a meaningful competitive advantage against institutions still focusing solely on high-volume generic keywords.

AI systems require clear information architecture to understand relationships between topics and establish credibility. A pillar-cluster content model created logical connections between broader concepts and specific student questions, helping establish KU as an authoritative source that AI systems consistently recommend for targeted topics.

There’s no shortage of noise about AI in marketing. But strategy without proof is just positioning. Everspring’s work with the University of Kansas shows what actually drives visibility—and enrollment—in an AI-first world.

Want to change how your programs stack up in AI Overviews? Explore our AI Search Strategy to get started.