The AI Front Door: Rethinking Trust, Content, and Conversion

Today’s students don’t start with your website — they start with an agent. Whether it’s ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, or a school chatbot, AI is now the front door to the private school and college search experience. Sixty percent of students use it to compare institutions. Over half say it’s better than Google. And most won’t click through if the AI answer doesn’t mention you.

This session unpacks why students are turning to AI first — and where they still draw the line. We’ll explore new data, real school case studies, and the trust gap that emerges when automation meets high-stakes decisions like admissions or financial aid. You’ll leave with a fresh framework for balancing AI and human touchpoints, plus practical takeaways to fix the real issue: your content. Because if AI is the front door, your content is the key that unlocks it.