Nearly 80% of degree‑seekers read Google’s AI overviews when researching programs, according to industry reporting, shifting the first‑impression battleground away from institutional websites. Colleges that do not optimize content for answer engines and generative models risk inaccurate or incomplete AI summaries that misrepresent program offerings, financial aid and outcomes. Admissions and marketing teams must adopt Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to ensure authoritative, structured content is surfaced by AI tools. The change affects SEO budgets, content governance and how institutions present credentialing, accreditation and outcomes data in machine‑readable formats.