EMASI GroupAI Search Dominance Strategy
A group-level strategy to make Khai Sang Corporation’s school network the most visible and recommended education brand in Vietnam’s AI-powered search landscape.
Nick Rowe
CEO & Co-Founder / Saigon Digital
“Saigon Digital transformed how Ski.com shows up online. Beyond rebuilding our platform, they helped us rethink our entire search and AI visibility strategy. We saw a significant uplift in organic traffic, our content started appearing in AI-generated travel recommendations, and the quality of inbound leads improved dramatically. They understand where digital discovery is heading and how to turn visibility into real commercial results.”
See how we’ve helped brands grow.
View Case Studies →Why AI Search Matters Now
The rules of school discovery have fundamentally changed
Search Has Evolved. Your Strategy Must Too.
Parents are no longer just typing queries into Google and scrolling through ten blue links. They are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for direct recommendations. The question has shifted from “What are the top search results?” to “Which school does AI recommend?”
This is a fundamental shift. Traditional SEO gets you ranked. AI Search Dominance gets you recommended, cited, and positioned as a trusted authority.
Traditional SEO
- Focus on rankings & traffic
- Keyword stuffing & backlink volume
- Compete for 10 blue links
- Brand-dependent visibility
- Static content pages
AI Search Dominance
- Focus on recommendation & authority
- Structured content clarity & entity definition
- Be cited as the trusted source
- Non-branded keyword coverage
- Clear positioning language AI can parse
AI systems decide what to recommend based on: structured content clarity, strong entity definition, consistent authority signals, non-branded keyword coverage, and clear positioning language. Schools that do not deliberately build these signals will simply not exist in AI-generated answers.
The Queries Parents Are Asking AI
These are real queries families use when researching schools through AI platforms.
“Best bilingual schools in HCMC”
The most common entry-point query for Vietnamese families exploring bilingual options in Ho Chi Minh City. Appearing here is essential.
“Top international schools Vietnam”
High-intent query used by expat families relocating to Vietnam. AI answers here heavily influence school shortlists.
“Affordable international school District 7”
Location-specific, value-focused query. EMASI Nam Long is in District 7, so this is a search it should win.
The Critical Window
Schools that adapt early will dominate recommendations. Schools that delay will lose visibility silently. Unlike traditional search where you can see your rankings drop, AI visibility loss is invisible: you simply stop being recommended, and you never know the families you lost.
This Is Not a Single-School Strategy.
This is a group-level AI Search Dominance strategy designed for Khai Sang Corporation’s entire school network. Instead of 5 schools competing individually, we build 1 interconnected authority ecosystem.
EMASI
EMASI Plus
Renaissance
IGS
Rugby School Hanoi
Authority Compounding: The Group Advantage
When schools within the same group share backlinks, cross-reference each other, and reinforce entity signals together, they create an authority flywheel that individual schools cannot compete with. Shared backlinks, shared mentions, and cross-entity reinforcement mean every investment multiplies across the network. Instead of competing, you control the conversation.
Where Are We Now?
Current digital presence across the EMASI school group
Where Each School Stands Today
Re-checked on 12 November 2026 (Ahrefs, Google Vietnam). Keywords and visits are estimates for searches in Vietnam.
EMASI
EMASI Plus
Renaissance
IGS HCMC
Rugby School Hanoi
EMASI vs. Key Competitors in Ho Chi Minh City
Same check, same day, same source (Ahrefs, Google Vietnam, 12 November 2026).
| School | DR | Keywords (VN) | Visits/mo (VN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMASI (You) | 37 | 23 | 1,211 |
| SNA | 40 | 1,100 | 18,423 |
| ISHCMC | 44 | 75 | 2,121 |
| AIS Vietnam | 41 | 69 | 1,884 |
| EIS HCMC | 36 | 21 | 600 |
Same Authority, 15 Times the Visits
SNA’s domain rating (40) is close to EMASI’s (37), yet it brings in about 18,400 visits a month from Google in Vietnam against EMASI’s 1,200, because it ranks for 1,100 searches against EMASI’s 23. The gap is content, not authority. That is the part a plan can change.
EMASI Is Getting Named. Rugby School Hanoi Is Not.
We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity six questions parents ask (18 answers, live, with web search). Here is which of your schools each answer named.
What Changed Since March
In March, EMASI appeared in 1 of the 6 questions we tested. Today EMASI is named in 6 of 18 answers, mostly for bilingual and English-integration questions. The gaps have moved: Rugby School Hanoi is not named in any answer for a British-curriculum school in Hanoi, EMASI Plus appears in only 1 of 3 boarding answers, and Gemini and Perplexity name other schools for District 7. AI answers change from run to run, so the pilot’s first month sets a proper baseline across more questions, in English and Vietnamese.
The 3 Gaps Holding the Group Back
From the November re-check.
Gap 1: Families Who Don’t Know Your Name Can’t Find You
EMASI ranks for 23 searches in Vietnam, almost all of them people typing “EMASI”. SNA ranks for 1,100. Parent guides, comparison pages and curriculum explainers are what reach families who haven’t heard of EMASI yet.
Gap 2: Rugby School Hanoi Opened Without a Search Presence
Rugby School Hanoi opened in September. Its site (rugbyschoolhanoi.com) ranks for no searches in Vietnam yet, and none of the three AI tools named it for a British-curriculum school in Hanoi. Prep and senior years follow in 2027, so the families choosing for next year are searching now.
Gap 3: EMASI Plus and IGS Are Nearly Invisible on Google
EMASI Plus ranks for 13 searches (about 88 visits a month) and IGS for 4 (about 40). Both have hundreds of linking sites, so the authority is there. What’s missing is pages that answer what boarding and German-curriculum families search for.
How Do We Get There?
A 5-phase strategy to dominate AI search across all 5 schools
The 5-Phase Plan
Each phase builds on the last, creating compounding authority across the entire Khai Sang school network.
AI Visibility Audit & Entity Strategy
- Full AI audit across all 5 schools on all 4 major AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews)
- Entity definition: precisely how each school should be described and categorized by AI systems
- Positioning architecture: which school owns which query intent across the group
- Competitive gap analysis per school vs. direct competitors in each market
- Baseline measurement and KPI framework for tracking progress
Technical SEO & Foundation
- Comprehensive technical audit and fixes across all school websites
- Schema markup implementation (Organization, School, FAQ, Course) on every school site
- Internal linking architecture designed for authority flow and AI crawlability
- AI-friendly content formatting: clear headings, structured answers, entity-rich copy
- Site speed optimization and Core Web Vitals improvements
Content Strategy & Authority Building
- Topic clusters per school based on unique positioning angles and query ownership
- 4 articles per month per school = 20 articles/month across the group
- Comparison pages, parent guides, curriculum explainers, and “best of” content
- Cross-school internal linking for authority compounding across the network
- PR placements and directory listings to build external authority signals
AI Optimization Layer
- AI citation engineering: create content specifically designed for AI systems to reference and cite
- Multi-site reinforcement: strategic cross-linking between schools to compound group authority
- Query ownership: build dedicated pages targeting specific AI queries identified in the audit
- Monthly AI citation tracking across all 4 platforms for every school
- Iterative optimization based on what AI systems are citing and recommending
Authority & Growth
- Sustained backlink building: 6 quality backlinks per month per school (30 across group)
- Expand into new query territories as initial positions are secured
- Monitor and optimize based on AI citation data and competitive movements
- Quarterly strategy reviews with data-driven pivots
- Scale content production to capitalize on winning topics and formats
What We Measure, Every Month
Targets are set with you at the end of the pilot’s first month, from a proper baseline, not guessed up front.
| Measure | Baseline today | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| AI answers naming each school | EMASI 6 of 18; Rugby School Hanoi 0 of 3 (Hanoi question) | Monthly, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google |
| Searches each school ranks for (Vietnam) | EMASI 23; Renaissance 179; EMASI Plus 13; IGS 4; Rugby 0 | Monthly |
| Visits from Google (Vietnam) | EMASI about 1,200 a month | Monthly |
| Enquiries by source | To set up in month 1 | Monthly, per school |
Timeline & Roadmap
Start with a three-month pilot, then decide
Pilot First, Then the Group Plan
The pilot proves the approach on the schools with the most to gain before the group commits to all five.
- What ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google say about each school, in English and Vietnamese
- Which parent questions name a competitor instead
- Enquiry tracking by source
- Targets agreed with you
- Rugby School Hanoi: pages that answer what Hanoi families ask
- EMASI: District 7 and comparison pages
- Technical and schema fixes
- Monthly report and review call
- Pilot results against the baseline
- Continue, scale to the group, or stop
- No lock-in beyond the pilot
- All five schools on the 5-phase plan
- Content and links across the group
- Cross-school authority building
- Quarterly strategy reviews
Investment & Pricing
Two ways to start
Start With the Pilot
All prices in USD, excluding VAT.
| Option | What’s included | Term | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Three-Month Pilot Recommended |
Month 1 baseline for all five schools; months 2–3 fixes and content for Rugby School Hanoi and EMASI; monthly report and review call | 3 months | USD [PILOT PRICE]/month |
| B. Group Programme | All five schools: strategy, 20 articles a month (4 per school), technical SEO, links, AI answer tracking, Looker dashboard per school | Rolling monthly, 6-month minimum recommended | USD 10,000/month |
The pilot fee is credited against month 1 of the Group Programme if you continue. Extra development, design or content work beyond the agreed scope is billed at USD 70 an hour in the following month. Invoiced in week 3, payable at the start of the next month; 30 days’ notice.
The ROI Question
Your team knows what one enrolment is worth over a student’s years with the group. Divide the monthly fee by that number: that is how many extra enrolments a year pay for the programme. The pilot’s enquiry tracking shows you whether it’s happening, school by school.
Next Step: A 30-Minute Walkthrough
We take your COO and the Saigon team through the November findings and the pilot, and answer every question. If it fits, the pilot can start in December.
30-Minute Walkthrough
Pilot Starts
Review After 3 Months
Jonas Hoener · COO & Co-Founder, Saigon Digital · jonas@saigon.digital