If someone searches your university’s name on Google, does your site come first?
In February we reported that many did not. Our September 2026 re-measurement says otherwise, and it corrects our earlier figure.
In September 2026, 178 of the 187 universities we could measure (95.2%) owned their own name on Google. Either their site was the first result, or the knowledge panel was theirs. 169 ranked first, and 171 (91.4%) sat in the top three.
What Google showed for the names of 187 universities
Own-name search is no longer where universities lose students. They lose them earlier, when a student asks for options without naming anyone. Asked that way, ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overview named 111 of 194 universities (57.2%).
Private and deemed: level on Google, apart in AI
On Google the two groups are close. 96.6% of private universities (86 of 89) and 93.9% of deemed universities (92 of 98) own their name.
Private and deemed universities on Google and in AI answers
The split shows when the student does not name anyone. AI named 72.2% of private universities and 44.2% of deemed ones.
Where third parties still answer for you
Your name now sits at the top. The questions around it are less settled. Google showed an AI Overview on 484 of 1,463 branded searches (33.1%), such as fees, reviews and courses. It showed a People Also Ask box for 182 of 187 universities (97.3%).
In those AI Overviews, the university’s own site was cited in 61.2% and a marketplace in 27.7%. Student reviews are the exception. There, own sites were cited in 14.6% of 89 AI Overviews and marketplaces in 51.7%.
Who Google’s AI Overview cites on searches for a university
On the question students trust most, someone else still tells your story.
The 4-Step SERP Brand Protection Framework
This is a focused brand protection effort. Four steps, in order.
Step 1
Audit your brand SERP
Search your exact name, then ‘{name} fees’, ‘{name} reviews’ and ‘{name} placements’. Note which answers cite your site and which cite a marketplace.
Step 2
Strengthen your owned properties
Your main website, admissions page and key programme pages must be technically sound: fast loading, well-structured content and strong internal linking. If your website performance scores below 50, fix that first.
Step 3
Claim the supporting positions
Optimise your Google Business Profile, Wikipedia page, LinkedIn company page, YouTube channel, and other owned properties so they fill positions 2–5. The goal is to occupy as many first-page slots as possible with properties you control.
Step 4
Monitor and defend
Set up alerts for your brand name. Track SERP changes monthly. When an aggregator page rises, respond with content depth and technical improvements.
Framework output: Your own site is the source Google cites for fees, admissions and reviews.
What this means for enrolment marketing
Owning your name is now the baseline: 95.2% of the universities we measured do. The work has moved to two places. The first is the questions students ask around your name, where marketplaces still answer on reviews. The second is the searches where students name nobody, where AI named 111 of 194 universities and generic AI Overviews named only 7.
Across our engagements, the fix starts on your own pages. Clear fee, eligibility and review content gives Google and AI assistants your words to quote.
This is Part 3 of a 12-part series based on Thrivemattic’s 194-university digital presence research. For SERP-specific data, see the SERP analysis report. For the full findings, see the research overview.
Where does your university stand on Google and in AI answers?
Google results, AI answers, website speed, admission pages and Reddit, across 194 private and deemed universities.
Read the full studyFor your own university’s view, Find Your University’s Digital Ranking gives each university a four-part grade: Google search, AI visibility, technical health and admission pages.
Find Your University’s Digital Ranking See how we work with universities
