Saigon Digital

Get on the shortlist

How parents find schools now, and how we put yours there.

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Prepared by Saigon Digital · October 2026

For international school leaders

Get on the shortlist.

"What's the best international school in my city?"

Parents now ask Google and AI that question before they ever contact you. The schools named in the answer get the tours. We put your school in that answer.

See how it works
The problem

Parents shortlist you before they meet you.

Most families decide who makes the cut long before they fill in your enquiry form.

1. SearchThey search Google for schools in their area.
2. Ask AIThey ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI answer.
3. CheckThey read review sites and parent forums.
4. ShortlistThree or four schools make the list.
5. EnquireOnly then do they contact a school.
If your school isn't in those answers, you aren't on the shortlist. You never even hear from that family.
1

Enquiries depend on luck

Agents, fairs and word of mouth bring most of your families. When they slow down, so do your numbers.

2

The wrong families enquire

Your team spends hours on families who were never a fit, while the right ones go elsewhere.

3

A competitor gets named first

A parent asks AI for the best school in your city. Another school gets the recommendation, and the tour.

The cost of doing nothing

One missed family costs more than you think.

A family doesn't pay for one year. They stay. Here is a simple sum.

USD 20,000
annual fees
×
5 years
a family stays
=
USD 100,000
for one student

Miss just a few families a year and the loss runs well past our fees. Our Foundation starts at USD 2,500.

Illustrative figures. Use your own fees.
Why most schools are invisible

Great schools get missed for three reasons.

1

AI can't read your site well

Your website was built for parents to browse, not for Google and AI to understand. So they guess, or they skip you.

2

You don't answer what parents ask

Parents search for fees, curriculum, admissions and "best school for my child". If your site doesn't answer clearly, someone else's does.

3

Too few places vouch for you

AI trusts schools other trusted websites talk about. If few of them mention you, you look like a risk.

How it works · Step 1

Start with the SEO Foundation.

A fixed price and a clear end point. We find out what's holding your school back, fix the foundations, and start the content parents search for.

1

A clear picture

  • Full SEO audit
  • Website structure review
  • Backlink and schema audit
  • Research into what parents search
2

Foundations fixed

  • Technical foundation work
  • Page titles and descriptions on up to 10 key pages
  • Schema code supplied
  • Speed, crawl and linking guidance
3

Content parents want

  • Content strategy
  • Your first 20 articles, written for you
4

A plan for what's next

  • 3-month SEO roadmap
  • Strategy for building your reputation across the web
What you have at the end
A clear picturewhat's wrong and how big it is
The fixes in placeon the pages that matter most
A 3-month roadmapso you know what comes next
20 articleswritten and ready to publish
How it works · Step 2

Then grow. Pick your level of support.

Every level includes the same core: strategy, technical SEO, page improvements, 10 articles a month, tracking in Google and AI, and a monthly report with a review call. What changes is how much we do for you.

Most schools start here Guide

Strategic Guidance

"We give you the strategy and core optimisation you need, without committing to a large execution budget."

  • Technical SEO monitoring
  • Page improvements
  • 10 articles a month
  • Google Business Profile and local presence
  • Ranking and AI tracking (5 AI questions)
  • Advice on building your reputation off-site
  • Monthly report and review call
Execute

Active Growth

"We don't just tell you what to do. We actively execute the growth plan."

  • Everything in Strategic Guidance, plus:
  • We build your reputation off-site for you
  • Backlinks, PR, citations and entity building from your monthly budget
  • More hands-on SEO work
  • Ranking and AI tracking (10 AI questions)
Partner

Growth Partnership

"We become an extension of your team, with a strong focus on achieving the agreed KPIs."

  • Everything in Active Growth, plus:
  • More proactive work, led by your targets
  • Development work where possible
  • Higher-value links and placements
  • Bank unused time for later
  • Early warning if results fall behind
  • Ranking and AI tracking (20 AI questions)

Quoted separately: PR placements, backlinks, Reddit mentions, local citations, entity building and additional development.

What working together looks like

We do the work. You approve it.

Discovery call

A short call about your school, your intake goals and the families you want more of.

Kickoff

We agree the goals, the parent questions to win and one named contact on your side.

First 30 days

We review your site and search presence, and start on the fixes and articles.

Every month

A clear report and a review call: what we did, what moved and what's next.

What your school does

  • Names one contact for us
  • Approves articles and changes before they go live
  • Joins a review call, about an hour a month

What we do

  • Everything else: research, fixes, writing, tracking and reporting
Questions schools ask us

Straight answers.

We already have an agency or a marketing team.

Good. We work alongside them. Most agencies focus on ads, social or the website itself. We focus on one job: getting your school found and recommended in Google and AI answers. Your team keeps ownership of the brand.

Our places fill through word of mouth.

Word of mouth now ends in a search. A parent hears your name, then asks Google or AI about you. If the answer is thin, out of date or names another school first, the recommendation loses its power.

SEO takes too long.

The Foundation has a fixed end point, and you get the fixes and your first 20 articles inside it. Rankings and AI mentions build over months, which is why we recommend 4 to 6 months of support after it.

Isn't AI search just hype?

Google now shows an AI answer above the usual results for many searches, and parents use ChatGPT and Gemini to compare schools. These answers draw on the same things good SEO builds: a clear website, useful content and a strong reputation. The work pays off in both.

Our budget is set once a year.

Start with the fixed-price Foundation in this year's budget. Monthly support can begin when your next budget does.

Will this take my team's time?

Very little. One named contact, approving articles and changes, and about an hour a month for the review call. We do the rest.

Who approves what you write about our school?

You do. Nothing about your school goes live without your sign-off.

What if it doesn't work?

The Foundation is a fixed price with a clear end point, so you know exactly what you get. Monthly support rolls month to month with no lock-in and 30 days' notice. We recommend 4 to 6 months, because search results build over time. Every month you see the report and judge the results for yourself.

Proof

Schools already work with us.

Featured case

The ABC International School, Ho Chi Minh City

A current SEO client. Every month we:

  • Write school-focused articles on the questions parents search for
  • Manage their Google Business Profile, so they show up when local parents search
  • Keep their SEO moving, month after month

The goal for admissions: the families searching right now find ABCIS, and find clear answers when they do.

"Saigon Digital helped us completely rethink our digital visibility strategy. Within months of working together, our school started appearing in AI-generated recommendations, our organic traffic grew significantly, and the quality of admissions enquiries improved dramatically. They understand where digital discovery is heading and how to position brands to win."
Darragh ShanahanPrimary Deputy Headteacher, BVIS, Nord Anglia Education
25+
years combined experience
USD 25M+
platform and revenue impact
90%
of clients continue beyond their first project
15+
countries
Investment

Clear prices. No surprises.

Start with the Foundation. Then choose the support that fits your goals.

Step 1 · SEO Foundation
USD 2,500
from, one fixed price

Full audit, research into what parents search, technical foundation work, titles and descriptions on up to 10 pages, schema code, content strategy, your first 20 articles and a 3-month roadmap.

Strategic Guidance
We guide. Strategy, core optimisation, 10 articles a month, tracking, report and review call.
USD 1,990from, per month
Active Growth
We execute. Everything in Guidance, plus off-site reputation building from your budget.
USD 3,490from, per month
Growth Partnership
We partner. Everything in Active Growth, led by your targets, with early warning if results fall behind.
USD 4,990from, per month

Not included in the Foundation: link building, PR, citations, schema implementation and ongoing SEO after the project. Not included in Strategic Guidance: technical development, paid links, PR and citations. These can be quoted separately. Monthly support rolls monthly with no lock-in and 30 days' notice. Prices exclude tax.

Next step

See where your school stands.

Book a short call. We'll run a free AI Visibility check on your school first, so we talk about your real position, not theory.

Step 1

Book a 20-minute call at a time that suits you.

Step 2

We run your free AI Visibility check before we speak.

Step 3

You get a clear recommendation for where to start.

Book a call