Growing student enrollment numbers: answers convert more than clicks

Discover how, in a competitive recruitment market, answer-ready content can help universities cut through the noise, engage prospective students, build trust, and turn interest into applications.

Nick Condon 12 Sep 2025

Declining applications. Rising competition. Tight budgets. Universities are under pressure like never before to prove they can attract and convert the right students.

The numbers tell the story: In the US, undergraduate enrollment fell by almost 15% between 2010 and 2022. Experts warn of another drop in 2033, with 15% fewer students each year than today.

While the US faces this decline, the UK is feeling the squeeze in a different way: Clearing call volumes are increasing year-on-year, and digital enquiries via tools like ChatGPT are surging over 40%.

The game has changed everywhere. While the competition for enrollments increases, students aren’t patiently browsing your site anymore. They’re asking AI tools, voice assistants, and chatbots for quick, clear answers about courses, scholarships, accommodation, deadlines, and student life. Increasingly, they also want to know about employability outcomes, what jobs they can get and how your programs support their future careers.

Students are moving fast, and so must you, because if your uni can’t deliver those answers, you’ve lost them. Simple as that.

“Answer-readiness” is becoming one of the most powerful recruitment strategies in higher education. Because clicks without answers? They don’t convert.

Skip ahead:

Why enrollment now hinges on instant, accurate answers
The make-or-break moments where answers convert
Why menus and SEO aren’t cutting it anymore
What answer-readiness looks like
Conversational AI search: why it matters
Action plan: Building Answer-Readiness into Enrolment
The bottom line and next steps

Why enrollment now hinges on instant, accurate answers

Students don’t crawl through menus and PDFs like it’s 2015. They:

Fire natural-language questions into AI tools like ChatGPT or Google’s AI summaries
Expect instant clarity on a wide range of questions
Compare multiple unis in a single sitting and make snap decisions

With 86% of students globally using AI tools in their studies and most increasingly using them to search for information, if your content isn’t structured to be found and understood by AI, you may not even make it to the shortlist.

Every unanswered question is a lost chance to move a student forward. Every information gap is an open door to a competitor.

The make-or-break moments where answers convert

In every enrollment journey, there are moments where one question decides if a student sticks with you or bails.

Early Research: “What courses do you offer in environmental science?”
Clear list = you’re in the running. Hidden in a dropdown? Game over.
Eligibility Checks: “Can international students apply for this scholarship?”
If it’s buried in a PDF, don’t expect them to stick around.
Application Prep: “What documents do I need for postgrad entry?”
If another uni makes it easier, they’ll go there.
Decision Time: “When will I get my offer letter?”
A fuzzy answer means they’ll pick the uni that sets expectations upfront.

Clarity, speed, and trust at these moments = enrollments. Friction, gaps, or inconsistency = lost applications.

In other words, a smooth, answer-ready experience is what drives conversion. Applicants see the digital experience as a taster of what they’ll get when they eventually join a university. If their experience at this stage is poor, they’re going to look elsewhere.

Why menus and SEO aren’t cutting it anymore

University websites still rely heavily on keyword SEO and menu navigation. That was fine when students were browsing page by page. It’s not fine now.

The old model needs evolution because:

Key details are buried in menus or PDFs, creating drop-off points
SEO ranking doesn’t matter if AI engines can’t extract your content
Inconsistent terms like "mid-year intake" versus "January start" confuse both students and AI

Google’s new Search Generative Experience and similar tools are shifting the game. It’s not about ranking anymore, it’s about how easily AI can use your content in its answers.

That’s where answer-readiness comes in.

What answer-readiness looks like

Answer-readiness means structuring, surfacing, and presenting your content so it’s easy to find, clear to understand, and trusted by both AI and humans.

In practice, answer-ready content is:

Clear: Plain language, no university jargon
Structured: Uses headings, bullets, Q&As so answers can be reused in context
Contextual: Grouped logically, with consistent linking across pages so students can navigate smoothly
Trusted: Regularly updated from credible sources

With content like this, your answers are more likely to appear in AI-generated summaries, site search results, and voice assistant responses, keeping students moving through the enrollment funnel.

This is why Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and conversational AI search matter.

SEO helps Google find your content
GEO makes sure AI can deliver your content

Pair that with conversational AI search on your own site, and you’re giving students instant, verified answers straight from the source. No detours to competitors.

Fact: Optimising content for AI also improves the experience for human users. Concise, better structured, and easy-to-read content keeps everyone moving.

Conversational AI search: why it matters

Even on your own site, students expect speed. They want to type or speak in their own words and get clear, instant answers.

Squiz Conversational Search, powered by Funnelback, delivers exactly that:

Searches only your approved content for trust and accuracy
Generates concise, clear answers with links back to source pages
Double-checks each response against your content before showing it

Example: a student asks, “What’s the deadline for mid-year nursing applications?”
They get the exact date instantly, plus the application link with a clear call to action. No digging, no second-guessing, no leaving your site.

Action plan: Building Answer-Readiness into Enrollment

To turn answer-readiness into a driver of applications, follow these steps:

Audit your high-impact content: Identify your key enrollment questions and check how easy they are to find on your website
Structure for AI and humans: Use consistent terms, headings, tags, and Q&A formatting to make answers easy to find and use
Close content gaps: Refresh outdated information and surface answers hidden in PDFs so students see them instantly
Integrate conversational AI search: Keep students on your website by letting them get verified, accurate answers directly from your search bar
Monitor and refine: Track questions asked, answers given, drop-off points, and continue to improve content accordingly

The bottom line and next steps

Students can compare you with a competitor in minutes. The unis that win aren’t the ones shouting the loudest. They’re the ones answering the right questions, instantly, with authority.

Ask yourself:

Are students finding exactly what they need, in an instant, personal way on your website?
Is your website content structured so that AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini represent it accurately?

Answer-readiness, GEO, and conversational AI search aren’t "nice extras." They’re the difference between being considered or being invisible.

Want to explore how you can turn conversational AI search into enrollments? Book a 30-min chat with a Squiz strategy consultant here.