AI assistants recommend tutors when they can see exactly what you teach (subject, level, exam board, the specific exam), where and how you teach, what it costs, and evidence that you are safe and good at it. Publish one page per subject and exam, state your DBS check and any professional membership, and collect reviews that mention results. Tutoring has no tutor-specific legal regime in the UK, so the checks you choose to publish carry most of the trust.
Key takeaways
- Parents ask about a child, an exam and a deadline ("11+ tutor for Kent grammar schools, test in September"). Generic "maths and English" pages don't match.
- There are no legal obligations on tutors specifically, so a stated Enhanced DBS check and a professional body listing do a lot of work.
- Since 21 January 2026, self-employed tutors can get their own Enhanced DBS check through an umbrella body.
- Publish hourly rates by level. Few tutors do, and price is a common question.
- Check monthly what assistants say when asked for a tutor like you.
What do parents and students ask AI when they're looking for a tutor?
They name the exam, the board, the grade they want and the time left. The prompts below are illustrative examples of the kinds of questions people ask, not measured search volumes.
| Intent | Example prompts (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Urgent | "A-level chemistry tutor who can start this week, exams in May", "my son failed his GCSE maths mock, how do I find a tutor fast?" |
| Comparison | "Online tutor or in-person tutor for a 10-year-old?", "tuition centre or private tutor for GCSE science?", "is a tutoring agency better than finding one myself?" |
| Local | "11+ tutor for Kent grammar schools in Sevenoaks", "AQA GCSE English tutor in Reading", "SEN tutor experienced with dyslexia near Harrogate" |
| Price | "How much does a GCSE maths tutor cost per hour?", "cheap online A-level physics tutor under £30 an hour" |
| Trust | "How do I check a tutor is DBS checked?", "reviews of [tuition centre name]", "what questions should I ask a private tutor?" |
Where does AI get its answers about tutors?
From marketplaces, membership directories, Google and tutors' own websites. Google says its AI Overviews and AI Mode use pages that are indexed and eligible to show a snippet, with no extra technical requirements (Google Search Central, 2025).
| Source | What it is | Why it matters for tutors |
|---|---|---|
| Your website | Subjects, levels, results, prices, safeguarding | The one place you control every fact and can go into depth. |
| The Tutors' Association | Non-profit professional membership body for the tuition industry (The Tutors' Association, n.d.) | Runs a searchable Find a Tutor directory of members by subject, level, location and online or in person (The Tutors' Association, n.d.). |
| Tutorful | UK tutoring marketplace | Profiles can be filtered by availability, SEN experience and price, and the site says tutors are background-checked with enhanced DBS (Tutorful, n.d.). |
| Childcare.co.uk | Platform for parents, childcare providers and private tutors (Childcare.co.uk, n.d.) | A further profile parents and assistants can find. |
| Google Business Profile | Listing on Search and Maps | For tuition centres and tutors who meet clients in person. Google says complete information and more reviews help local ranking (Google Business Profile Help, n.d.). |
| US equivalent | Wyzant and similar marketplaces | Wyzant is a marketplace of independent tutors who set their own rates, with student reviews on profiles (Wyzant, n.d.). |
Marketplaces come and go. First Tutors, a long-running UK platform, has closed (First Tutors, n.d.). If you relied on a profile there, make sure your own website now carries everything it said.
The 7-step plan to get your tutoring recommended
Write one page for each subject and exam you're strongest at. "GCSE maths (AQA and Edexcel, Foundation and Higher)", "11+ for Kent Test and CSSE", "A-level chemistry (OCR A)", "Year 6 SATs catch-up". On each, say who it's for, how sessions work, how you track progress, the areas you cover in person and whether you teach online.
Publish prices. An hourly rate by level, any travel charge, online versus in-person, packages, cancellation terms and whether a first call or lesson is free. If you run a centre, publish group and one-to-one rates.
State your DBS check precisely. The Tutors' Association notes there are currently no legal obligations on tutors specifically (The Tutors' Association, 2024) and that not all tutors are legally required to have a DBS check (The Tutors' Association, 2025). From 21 January 2026, self-employed people can apply for an Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List(s) check through a registered umbrella body, and the announcement names private tutors teaching children directly as an example (GOV.UK, 2026). Say which level you hold, its date and whether you're on the DBS Update Service, which lets a parent check with your permission whether anything has changed (GOV.UK, n.d.).
Join a professional body and say so. The Tutors' Association requires members to follow its Code of Practice and to hold an Enhanced DBS check that is either less than a year old or registered with the Update Service; a Basic check does not count (The Tutors' Association, 2024). Link from your site to your directory entry so the claim can be checked.
Show qualifications and experience as facts. Degree subject, QTS if you have it, years teaching, exam boards you've examined or marked for, SEN training. Be careful with results claims: describe them accurately and only with students' permission, and never invent grade outcomes.
Keep marketplace profiles consistent with your site. Same name, subjects, levels and prices. Marketplaces are useful for reviews and visibility, but your website is the record you keep if a platform closes or changes its terms.
Ask every family for a review at the same points, with no incentive. After mock results and after the real exams are natural moments. Google prohibits incentives (Google Business Profile Help, n.d.) and selectively soliciting positive reviews (Google, n.d.). Since 6 April 2025, UK law bans fake reviews and reviews that conceal an incentive (CMS, 2025), so "a free lesson for a review" is out. Don't name children in replies.
For a tuition centre, add LocalBusiness structured data with name, address, phone and hours. Schema.org's list of LocalBusiness types has no tutoring type (Schema.org, n.d.), and Google says AI features need no special markup. Also check that robots.txt and any firewall allow OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search (OpenAI, n.d.), PerplexityBot (Perplexity, n.d.) and Claude-SearchBot (Anthropic, n.d.).
Mistakes that keep tutors out of AI answers
- "All subjects, all levels". It matches no specific question and reads as less expert.
- No exam boards or exam names. Parents ask about AQA, OCR, the Kent Test, CSSE. Use the words they use.
- "DBS checked" with no detail. Say Basic or Enhanced, the date and whether it's on the Update Service.
- Everything on one marketplace profile. If the platform closes, so does your online evidence.
- Prices hidden until a call. Price questions go to tutors and marketplaces that publish rates.
- Unverifiable results claims. "100% pass rate" with no detail invites doubt, and an assistant has nothing to verify it against.
- Asking only the families whose children did well. Google prohibits selective asking.
How do you check whether AI recommends you?
Ask the assistants what parents and students ask, and record the answers monthly.
- Choose 10 prompts from the table, using your subjects, exams and area.
- Run each in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode), Gemini, Claude and Copilot, in a logged-out or private window where possible.
- Note whether you're named, whether your subjects and prices are right, which tutors or platforms appear instead, and which sources are cited.
- Fix wrong facts at the source: your website, then your marketplace and directory profiles.
- In Google Search Console, AI feature traffic is included in the Performance report under the "Web" search type (Google Search Central, 2025).
SearchCrow runs these checks for you. It asks the main AI assistants the questions parents and students ask about tutors in your subjects and area, shows whether you come up and which sources they rely on, and suggests what to fix first. It's priced for independent tutors and small tuition centres.
FAQ
Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend me as a tutor? Usually because your profile says "maths and English tutor" when parents ask something much narrower: "GCSE AQA maths tutor in Reading for a Year 11 aiming for a 7" or "11+ tutor for Kent grammar schools". If your website and profiles don't list subjects, levels, exam boards, areas, online or in person, prices and safeguarding checks, a tutor who spells these out is easier to recommend.
Do private tutors need a DBS check? There's no legal requirement on tutors specifically, and not all tutors are legally required to have one. But parents look for it. Since 21 January 2026, self-employed people, including private tutors teaching children directly, can apply for an Enhanced DBS check, with or without a barred list check, through a registered DBS umbrella body. Say on your site which check you hold.
Is it worth joining The Tutors' Association? It gives parents, and assistants, something to verify. The Tutors' Association is a non-profit membership body for the tuition industry. Members must follow its Code of Practice and hold an Enhanced DBS check that is under a year old or on the DBS Update Service. It runs a searchable Find a Tutor directory of members.
Should tutors publish their prices? Yes. Price is one of the first things parents ask, and an assistant can't include you in an answer about hourly rates if your rate isn't published anywhere. State your hourly rate by level, whether online and in-person prices differ, any travel charge, your cancellation policy and whether you offer packages or a free introductory call.
What structured data should a tutor use? Schema.org has no dedicated tutoring type among the LocalBusiness subtypes, so a tuition centre can use LocalBusiness with its name, address, phone, website and hours. A home-based or online tutor can mark up the service area rather than a home address. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special markup, so schema only confirms facts you already publish.
Sources
- Self-employed workers and personal employees can now apply for Enhanced DBS checks, GOV.UK
- A guide for parents and carers employing self-employed workers, GOV.UK
- The Tutors' Association, The Tutors' Association
- Member conduct and professional standards, The Tutors' Association
- Understanding DBS checks: why tutors need one, The Tutors' Association
- Find a Tutor, The Tutors' Association
- Tutorful, Tutorful
- Childcare.co.uk, Childcare.co.uk
- First Tutors, First Tutors
- Wyzant, Wyzant
- LocalBusiness, Schema.org
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Get reviews on your Business Profile, Google Business Profile Help
- Fake engagement policy, Google
- No more faux five-stars: the DMCC Act bans fake reviews, CMS
- Overview of OpenAI crawlers, OpenAI
- Perplexity crawlers, Perplexity
- Anthropic crawler FAQ, Anthropic