Every December, I try to take a step back and look at the patterns emerging in our space. Not the hype, not the panic, but the actual signals beneath the noise. And this year, the biggest signal is impossible to ignore: search is changing faster than most institutions are prepared for.
If you’ve been following the rumblings - the rise of zero-click experiences, the drop in organic visibility in key program categories, and the rapid expansion of LLM-driven search - you’ve likely felt the shift yourself. Students are no longer just “Googling.” Increasingly, they’re asking AI systems for answers, and those systems are deciding which institutions show up and which don’t.
Nearly 60 percent of Google searches now end without a click according to industry benchmarks, driven by AI Overviews, instant answers, and more aggressive SERP features. And if you’re inside the Google ecosystem, you’re likely seeing softness year over year in certain categories, especially program-related terms.
But what has been most interesting in recent months is the split in how institutions are reacting…
Call it two camps, and neither one is particularly comfortable:
The first camp is made up of institutions that still haven’t fully invested in traditional SEO in the first place, let alone prepared for how AI is reshaping search. These are the schools that, unfortunately, are unprepared and increasingly exposed. They’re not necessarily ignoring the problem, but they are a part of it, as SEO has historically been underfunded and undervalued in higher ed.
The second camp are institutions that are increasingly nervous about our sector’s deep reliance on paid search as a primary acquisition engine. Their concern is valid. Their caution is understandable. But they’re also at real risk of overcorrecting for the future at the expense of near-term performance. In trying to anticipate where search is going, they may well unintentionally undermine one of the channels that is still driving meaningful enrollment today.
Both of these reactions make sense. But neither one is a strategy.
At Kanahoma, we’ve been working heads-down for the past six months on something we believe will reshape how SEO functions across higher ed. It’s called SEO+, and it officially launches in January. Think of it as the evolution of our traditional SEO offering - not a separate AI product, not a standalone shiny object, but a unified SEO strategy that merges what has always worked with what is now required.
Because here’s the honest truth: SEO isn’t dead. SEO is evolving. And the schools that treat AI SEO as something separate from their primary SEO strategy are going to lose ground. Hard.
In fact, we recently helped a partner increase monthly organic inquiries by 43% and organic sessions by 26% in just six months - without relying on gimmicks or AI shortcuts, but through fundamentals: technical health, quality content, and strategic prioritization. These levers still work. They just need to be used with more intention than most institutions bring to them.
That work still matters. Maybe now more than ever.
And underneath all of this is a fear I’m hearing more and more often: “Are we even visible in LLMs?” It’s a legitimate question. AI systems pull from a mix of structured data, authoritative content, and semantic signals - and most institutions have done little to prepare for that reality. SEO+ is designed to address that head-on by structuring content in ways LLMs actually use, increasing verification signals, and ensuring your institution shows up wherever prospective students are asking their questions.
The role of content is about much more than attracting traffic - it’s about performing inside the search environment itself. That means being answer-ready. It means understanding how AI models pull, weight, and verify information. It means structuring information to serve users not only when they arrive on your website, but long before they ever do.
The SEO+ framework is built specifically for that world. It blends traditional SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) into one unified approach. It integrates technical excellence, strategic insights, content structuring, and answer-readiness across both traditional search and AI-driven environments.
It’s still SEO - but finally built for the world we’re actually marketing into.
So yes, there’s change coming. But my message heading into January is simple: don’t freak out. Don’t bet against Google. Don’t throw away your search strategy. And please don’t think traditional SEO is suddenly optional.
And because this topic is only getting louder, in January I’ll also be hosting a live webinar called State of the State: The Future of Search. I’ll be breaking down where things are heading, what’s actually changing, what isn’t, the advice we’re giving partners, and the biggest mistakes institutions are making right now.
We’ll cover things like updated funnels, how to think about zero-click, where AI summaries matter (and don’t), why ad units are about to explode across the interface, and why the smartest institutions are beginning to blend SEO and paid search strategy instead of treating them like two competing channels or opportunities.
If you want to join, here’s the RSVP link. I’d really love to have you there.
And in the meantime, if you’d like a preview of exactly what we’re up to at Kanahoma with SEO+, just shoot me an email and I’m sure we can find the time.
More soon as we get closer to launch. January is going to be a big one at Kanahoma…
- Seth
About The Author
Seth is the founder and CEO of Kanahoma, a San Diego-based performance marketing agency on a mission to build a better agency for organizations building a better world.
You can learn more about who we are and what we do at www.Kanahoma.com.
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