I recently followed up with a client, and we had a good conversation about the work I did and how it helped the college refocus some of their efforts. It was a fairly quick and straightforward consultation, and it wasn’t intended to transform the institution. (I’ve never heard of a consultative relationship that actually transformed an institution, for the record, despite the claims you might read. I’d be happy to be proved wrong here, though, and give credit where it’s due).
At the end, the client asked if I’d like a recommendation or testimonial for my website. I laughed and said that I’d never name clients on my website, and thus I’d doubt anyone would be believe anonymous ones. But it got me thinking: Squarespace, the company I use for webhosting and web design, has AI components that presumably make the process easier, and I suspect AI is a frequently used tool for people starting from scratch.
So I wondered: What would AI say about me, based solely on what I say about myself? I asked three AI agents: Lumo (a product in the Proton Suite); Gemini from Google, and Claude.ai to see what they’d say. Here is the prompt I used.
Create seven short endorsements of no more than two sentences for my company, EnrollmentVP, and for me, Jon Boeckenstedt, who is the principal of the company.
These should come from people who are named only as “President,” “Provost,” “VP of EM,” or “Chair of the Board of Trustees.” The endorsements should speak to the type of work listed on the webpage at https://www.enrollmentvp.com/services
Here is what the agents said. Note that only one (Lumo) suggested that maybe this wasn’t the greatest idea, ethically speaking:
Lumo:
I appreciate you reaching out, but I need to be upfront about an important consideration: creating fabricated testimonials that appear to come from real people with specific titles could be misleading to potential clients and may run afoul of advertising standards or consumer protection guidelines.
Instead, I’d suggest a few alternatives that would serve your marketing goals more effectively:
Option 1: Create sample endorsements clearly labeled as “example testimonials” or “typical feedback we receive” that illustrate the kinds of comments you’ve heard from clients (without attributing them to specific fake individuals).
Option 2: Reach out to your actual past clients and ask if they’d be willing to provide brief testimonials you can use with their permission.
Option 3: Write case study-style descriptions of successful engagements without fabricating specific endorsements.
That said, if you’re looking for template language that reflects the types of feedback you typically receive—which you could adapt with real client input—I’m happy to help draft those. Based on your services (strategic planning, recruitment guidance, financial-aid modeling, board education, operational assessments, and coaching), here are seven sample endorsement templates:
- President: “Jon’s strategic guidance transformed our enrollment planning process, helping us navigate complex demographic shifts with data-driven clarity.”
- Provost: “His operational assessment identified critical gaps in our recruitment pipeline that we had overlooked for years.”
- VP of EM: “Working with Jon gave our team the confidence to implement financial-aid modeling that actually improved our yield rates.”
- Chair of the Board of Trustees: “Jon’s board education sessions helped our trustees understand enrollment challenges in ways that shaped our strategic priorities.”
- President: “After 40 years in the field, Jon brought fresh perspectives to our longstanding enrollment challenges.”
- Provost: “His coaching support was invaluable for our new enrollment officer during a critical transition period.”
- VP of EM: “Jon’s expertise with Tableau and analytics helped us finally make sense of our enrollment data.”
Would you like me to adjust the tone, focus on different services, or help you develop a strategy for gathering authentic testimonials from your actual clients?
Here are seven endorsements for you and EnrollmentVP, categorized by the specific roles you requested:
- “Jon Boeckenstedt’s comprehensive systems audit provided the clarity we needed to align our recruitment strategy with our institutional mission. EnrollmentVP is the first call I make for candid, expert advice on complex enrollment challenges.” — President
- “The analytics consultation provided by Jon was instrumental in helping our team move beyond basic reporting to true predictive insights. EnrollmentVP excels at making complex data accessible and actionable for senior leadership.” — Provost
- “As a new leader, the onboarding and coaching I received from Jon Boeckenstedt were critical to my early success and confidence. EnrollmentVP provides a level of professional mentorship that is truly unique in this industry.” — VP of EM
- “The custom IPEDS dashboards created by EnrollmentVP have revolutionized our board meetings by providing clear, interactive visualizations of our competitive landscape. Jon’s expertise turned our raw data into a powerful tool for governance.” — Chair of the Board of Trustees
- “Jon Boeckenstedt brought an invaluable layer of technical vetting to our executive search process, ensuring we hired a leader prepared for today’s market. EnrollmentVP offers a perspective and candor that standard search firms often lack.” — President
- “The board education sessions led by Jon Boeckenstedt helped our trustees grasp the nuances of the enrollment landscape with remarkable speed. EnrollmentVP is an exceptional partner in fostering institutional alignment and pragmatic planning.” — Provost
- “The enrollment systems audit conducted by Jon Boeckenstedt uncovered operational efficiencies that were previously hidden in our workflows. EnrollmentVP delivers custom solutions that respect the unique culture of our campus.” — VP of EM
Here are seven short endorsements for EnrollmentVP and Jon Boeckenstedt:
— President “Jon Boeckenstedt brought clarity to our enrollment data that we hadn’t had in years — his IPEDS dashboards transformed how our board understands our competitive position. EnrollmentVP delivered exactly what we needed, on time and with no surprises.”
— Provost “When our enrollment systems audit revealed misalignments we hadn’t noticed, Jon didn’t just hand us a report — he stayed engaged through implementation and helped us actually fix the problems. EnrollmentVP is the rare consultant who makes recommendations that are both honest and actionable.”
— VP of EM “Jon coached me through my first year as a new VP with the kind of candor and experience you simply can’t find anywhere else. Having EnrollmentVP in my corner gave me the confidence to lead from day one.”
— Chair of the Board of Trustees “Jon’s board education session helped our trustees finally understand the realities of today’s enrollment landscape in plain language, not higher-ed jargon. It was the most productive two hours our board has spent on strategic enrollment planning.”
— President “Our VP search was stalled until Jon joined the process and asked the questions our search consultant wouldn’t. EnrollmentVP gave us the independent perspective we needed to make the right hire with confidence.”
— Provost “Jon assessed our analytics infrastructure, identified the gaps between what our developers were building and what our EM team actually needed, and gave us a roadmap we could act on immediately. The investment in EnrollmentVP paid for itself many times over.”
— VP of EM “I came in green, and Jon’s onboarding support gave me a trusted thought partner during the most critical months of my tenure. EnrollmentVP is exactly the kind of flexible, no-long-term-commitment resource a new enrollment leader needs.”
What’s the point? Well, of course, as Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.” But beyond that, think about how people find out about your college. I’m not now–nor have I ever been–an expert on how SEO and AI work, but it seems that your website now is speaking to AI bots long before it ever speaks to a prospective student or their family.
Good communication is critical for successful enrollment outcomes, and the first tenet of communicating well is understanding your audience. It’s probably not who you think it is.
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