New research highlights how AI is changing how students choose higher education courses

New research from AI specialist Everspring has highlighted the importance of AI visibility for higher education providers.

In the 2025 AI Search Trends Report, Everspring suggests that AI answers have become one of the most important tools for enrolment.

Everspring analyzed nearly 100,000 leads across various marketing channels and found that AI discovery and AI-disrupted organic search converts to applicants at a rate between two- and three-times higher than paid search.

“AI has rewritten the rules of discovery, such that if your programs don’t appear inside the AI summaries at the top of search results, you’re invisible to the students most likely to apply,” explains Beth Hollenberg, CEO of Everspring.

The report argues that paid search still delivers results when paired with a strong AI and organic search strategy. 

These findings build on Everspring’s previous report that argued generative AI is changing traditional search journeys and pushing universities out of view, raising costs for marketing teams reducing visibility.

“This isn’t just a marketing challenge” adds Michael Bell, Everspring’s Chief Marketing Officer, “It’s an enrollment strategy problem. Marketing and enrollment leaders are claiming visibility at the heart of where applicant decisions are made – in AI Overviews and ChatGPT – and using paid search as a secondary tool to scale what works.”