The AI-Ready Digital Growth Engine

AI search is reshaping how prospective students discover, evaluate, and compare institutions—often before they ever reach an institution’s website or identify themselves.

To compete across this changing student journey, higher ed marketing leaders need to transform their digital presence into an AI-ready digital growth engine: a connected system in which search, the .edu, digital experiences, and paid media work together to strengthen discovery, deepen engagement, generate demand, and support enrollment growth.

In this insight paper, EAB outlines six practical strategies CMOs can use to begin the transformation. By implementing focused improvements, institutions can more intentionally connect their existing digital capabilities for both the student journey and enrollment outcomes.