Original research
Research by Thrivemattic
We study how education institutions in India show up on Google, in AI answers and on their own websites. Every study is free to read and cite, and every report documents its method.
The studies
Four studies of Indian education, each with its own report.
194 universities · India
The Digital State of India’s Private Universities 2026
The cohort is 90 private and 104 deemed universities.1 We record what Google shows for each university’s name, whether AI engines name it and what students say on Reddit.
689 schools · India
International Schools in India: Report 2026
The audit covers 661 school websites in 89 cities and 22 states.4 We score each school on six dimensions, from content to website speed and AI visibility.
124 colleges · India
Indian Colleges Digital Readiness Report 2026
We evaluated college websites in three NIRF categories: College, Engineering and Management.5 The study covers digital presence, readiness for AI search and how complete the admission pages are.
124
NIRF-ranked colleges evaluated5
Foreign campuses · India
Foreign Universities in India
We study how universities from the UK, Australia, the US and Italy build a digital presence for their India campuses. We are updating this study with September 2026 data. This card shows no figures until we publish the new report.
What we collected
The cohort, the measures and the dates behind each study.
Check what a study measured before you cite it.
| Study | Cohort | What we measured | Collected | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private and deemed universities | 1941 | Google results for each university’s name, AI answers on three engines, admission pages, mobile speed and Reddit posts | September 2026. Reddit posts: January 2026 | Open report |
| International schools | 6894 | Six dimensions: content completeness, content depth, UX and navigation, technical quality, website performance, and AI and search visibility | 18 August to 13 September 2026 | Open report |
| NIRF-ranked colleges | 1245 | Digital presence, readiness for AI search and admission-page completeness | Published April 2026 | Open report |
| Foreign universities in India | Update in progress | Digital presence and admission journey of India campuses | Update in progress | Open report |
Method
How we run a study.
Every study runs on our proprietary AI research pipeline. It crawls each institution’s own website, runs a mobile speed audit, records Google’s results and puts questions to AI answer engines.
Each report documents its own method, because each cohort needs different measures. For the full account of one study, read how we built the university study.
Who this is for
Who uses this research.
Marketing teams
Compare your institution with its peers on search, speed and admission pages, and find the gaps to close first.
Journalists and analysts
Cite original data. Each report states its cohort, its sources and its collection dates.
Institution leaders
See where Indian education institutions stand online, and where your own institution sits in that picture.
New research
Hear when we publish a new study.
One email for each new study. Unsubscribe at any time.
Data notes
- Study of 194 Indian private and deemed universities, September 2026 snapshot (v2). Cohort: 90 private and 104 deemed. Google results collected on 18 September 2026 for each university’s name. “Owns its own name” means the site is the first organic result, or the knowledge panel is the university’s own. The own-name figure uses n = 187, because seven result pages came back degraded and are excluded. Updated 6 Oct 2026 (was “Avg Score: 68.4”, February 2026 snapshot). Reason: the composite score is not published for the September 2026 snapshot. Source report. ↩
- Same study and snapshot. AI answers collected from 14 to 18 September 2026 on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overview. “Named by AI” means at least one of nine questions that named no university got an answer naming it (n = 194). Source report. ↩
- Same study. Reddit posts collected in January 2026 and not collected again for the September 2026 update. The 18,838 posts discuss 185 of the 194 universities. Updated 6 Oct 2026 (was 18,725 posts across 184 universities, February 2026 snapshot). Reason: count corrected. The earlier total left out 113 posts and one university. Source report. ↩
- Audit of 689 international schools in India, collected between 18 August and 13 September 2026: 661 distinct websites, 89 cities, 22 states. Some school groups run several campuses from one website, so the median readiness score counts each website once. The score runs from 0 to 100 across six dimensions. Source report. ↩
- Study of 124 NIRF-ranked colleges in India, published April 2026: College (92), Engineering (7) and Management (25), from NIRF 2024 ranking data. Source report. ↩
Questions
About the research.
What does Thrivemattic research cover?
We study how education institutions in India show up online: their Google results, the answers AI engines give about them, their own websites and their admission pages. Each study covers one segment, from 124 colleges to 689 international schools.
How often do you publish new research?
We published four studies between February and September 2026. We update a study when we collect new data, and each report shows its snapshot month.
Can I cite this research?
Yes. Every study is free to cite with attribution to Thrivemattic and a link to the report. Each report states its cohort, its data sources and its collection dates.
How is the research conducted?
Every study runs on our proprietary AI research pipeline. It crawls each institution’s own website, runs a mobile speed audit, records Google’s results and puts questions to AI answer engines. Each report documents its own method.
Do you offer custom research for my institution?
Yes. We can run the same pipeline on a cohort you choose, or go deeper on one segment. Write to us through the contact page and tell us which institutions you want compared.