AIO / SEO Case Study
North Country School
Helping North Country School Gain Visibility in AI Overviews & Carousels
Client Snapshot
North Country School | Lake Placid, NY
North Country School is a junior boarding and day school for grades 4–9 located in the Adirondacks. The school emphasizes experiential learning, outdoor education, and a close-knit community environment.
When North Country School partnered with Rooted Rock Marketing, their online visibility was heavily dependent on traditional organic search rankings and directory listings. While they had strong brand recognition locally and within certain education networks, they were struggling to appear in the new AI-powered search experiences rolling out across Google.
In 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews and AI Carousels. These features summarize and recommend institutions directly within search results. These placements quickly became high-value real estate since they often appear above traditional organic listings and shape how prospective families discover schools.
North Country School was not surfacing in these AI-powered features, meaning they risked losing visibility to competing junior boarding schools that already had existing authority and were more established institutions in the search results. This was particularly problematic because:
Families researching boarding schools increasingly relied on AI summaries and carousel recommendations to compare options.
Search intent was shifting from broad queries like “boarding schools in New York” toward AI-answered questions, where only a handful of schools are highlighted.
Competing schools had stronger digital authority, making it harder for North Country School to secure featured placements without a targeted strategy.
Without a consistent presence in these evolving AI-driven search experiences, North Country School risked falling behind competitors at a crucial moment when prospective families were shaping their shortlists. They needed a solution that would ensure their school appeared prominently in these AI-powered discovery tools while reinforcing their position in traditional organic results.
The Challenge
Rooted Rock Approach
Rooted Rock Marketing developed and executed a tailored strategy to help North Country School break into Google’s AI-driven search experiences. Our approach focused on aligning technical SEO, structured data, and content authority with the signals that influence AI Overviews and AI Carousels.
1. SEO Audit & Technical Foundation
We began with a full site audit to identify structural barriers to AI-driven indexing. Key findings included:
Missing all relevant schema markup for educational institutions
Limited structured data around admissions, programs, and location
Internal linking gaps that weakened topical authority
Inaccurate identification and branding of North Country School across third-party sources
2. On-Page Optimization for AI Signals
We optimized critical pages—such as“Junior Boarding School,” “Academics,” and “Student Life”—with metadata and headings designed to align with AI query patterns. Structured data for FAQs and program details were added, ensuring Google’s AI had clear, machine-readable context to pull into overviews.
3. Content Strategy to Build Authority
Rooted Rock produced new content targeting AI-driven queries such as:
“Best junior boarding schools in New York”
“What makes a boarding school unique?”
“Experiential learning at junior boarding schools”
By addressing intent-driven questions directly, North Country School’s content became more relevant for AI summarization.
4. Competitor & Carousel Positioning
We conducted a competitive landscape review to identify which schools were appearing in AI carousels. This allowed us to refine North Country School’s positioning to highlight differentiators—such as hands-on experiential learning, the Adirondack location, and the 4–9 grade focus—that AI systems prioritize when distinguishing options.
Results & Impact
AI Carousel Placement: North Country School was featured under “Junior Boarding School” results, ranking 2nd overall.
Within weeks of implementation, North Country School began appearing in Google’s AI-powered search experiences:
AI Mode Results: The school began surfacing in “People also search for” panels within AI overviews, positioning them directly alongside competing institutions.
Increased Visibility: These placements significantly expanded North Country School’s digital footprint, ensuring they were included in prospective families’ initial research phase.
The impact extended beyond visibility:
Higher Quality Traffic: Visitors arriving through AI placements demonstrated stronger engagement, with increased time on site and higher inquiry form submissions.
Competitive Differentiation: By surfacing in cutting-edge AI features before many peers, North Country School positioned itself as a forward-facing, authoritative institution.
Future-Proof SEO: Optimizations not only secured AI placements but also strengthened traditional organic rankings, creating a dual benefit in both classic and AI-driven search environments.
Ultimately, our team helped North Country School adapt to the future of search by securing placements in AI overviews and carousels. This ensured that when families asked Google’s AI about the best boarding schools, North Country School was part of the answer, which in turn helped drive visibility, credibility, and inquiries in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Stanzi Bliss
Director of Communications
North Country School
“As a predominantly drive market tourism destination, identifying new fly markets to target was intimidating. Rooted Rock Marketing really helped us create a strategy using our website and Google ads to gain traction in these new areas that used to feel out of reach for us. They coached us on what information to put on a landing page and expertly tweaked the ads to reach the right audience.”