A tutoring centre has an unusual customer. The student is the one who sits at the table, but the person who searches, compares, reads the reviews and pays is almost always a parent. And the parent searches at a particular moment: after a report card, after a difficult parent-teacher meeting, or when an exam date appears on the school calendar.
That parent is worried about one subject, one grade and one date. Let us say it plainly: the centres that fill their schedules write for that parent, in the parent's own words, about that subject, that grade and that date.
In short: parents search by subject, grade, place and exam. A tutoring centre gets found by writing a page for each subject and grade band, pages tied to real provincial exams with the official dates linked, a Google Business Profile with correct hours, reviews from parents that name the subject and the change they saw, and careful rules about photos of children.
How does a parent search for a tutor?
The searches carry the parent's worry directly. "Grade 10 math tutor Surrey". "Reading tutor grade 3 near me". "Chemistry 11 tutor Richmond". "French immersion tutor Coquitlam". "Tutor for child with ADHD". "Literacy assessment help grade 10". Some are about a moment in the year: "summer tutoring", "exam prep tutor", "tutor before provincial exam".
Then there are the questions asked to AI assistants, longer and more personal. A parent may type "my daughter is in grade 10 in Burnaby and is failing math, which tutoring centre near Metrotown is good with anxious kids". An assistant builds its answer from pages and reviews that mention the grade, the subject, the area and the type of student. If your site lists "Math, English, Science" and nothing more, there is no sentence for it to use.
Which pages does a tutoring centre need?
One page for each subject and grade band. Math for grades 8 to 10 is a different conversation from math for grades 11 and 12, and from reading support for grades 1 to 3. Each page should say what the students at that level usually struggle with, how you assess a new student, how a session runs, and how you report progress to the parent. Use the course names printed on the report card, because those are the words a parent copies from a report card into a search box.
A page on how the first assessment works. A worried parent wants to know what happens at the first visit. Is there a test? How long does it take? Does the parent stay? What will they learn at the end? This page removes the most common first question from the phone call.
A page about the tutors. Parents want to know who will sit with their child. Name each tutor, their education, the subjects they teach, and whether they have teaching certification. If you run background checks, say so plainly.
A page on schedules, fees and cancellation. A parent comparing centres trusts the one who explained how it works before the first call.
How do exam dates help a tutoring centre?
Exams are the moment when parents act, and the dates are public. A page tied to a real exam, with the official date and a link to the official source, is useful to the parent and gives search engines and assistants exact facts to match.
British Columbia. The provincial government's page for parents and students says that students must write the Grade 10 Numeracy, Grade 10 Literacy and Grade 12 Literacy assessments to graduate. The ministry's 2026 to 2027 schedule lists a November 2026 session from Monday 2 November to Friday 6 November, and a January 2027 session from 11 to 22 January. The schedule itself notes that each assessment is designed to be completed within two hours, and that dates can change, in which case the ministry posts an updated schedule.
Ontario. The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) runs the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Its page says the test "measures whether students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9", that students usually take it in their second year of secondary school, and that "successful completion of the literacy test is one of the requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma". The fall 2026 window is 3 to 30 November 2026, and the spring 2027 window is 30 March to 19 April 2027.
So a centre in Burnaby could write a page called "Grade 10 Numeracy Assessment help", explaining what the assessment covers in your own words, how you prepare students, and when the next session runs, with a link to the ministry's schedule. Link to the official page next to the date, because the official page is the one that will change if the date moves. And update the page after each session, so it never shows a date that has passed.
Outside these two provinces, name the exam your students write and link to the education department's own page for it.
What should reviews from parents say?
A review of a tutoring centre is most useful when it describes a change in a child. Imagine a parent who writes that their son stopped dreading Math 10 homework after one term, and that his mark went up. That review answers the question the next parent has, and it names the subject and the grade an assistant looks for.
So ask at a natural moment: a report card, the end of a term, or a passed exam. Send the review link from your Google profile, and suggest the parent mention the subject, the grade and what changed. Protect the child's privacy in the reply: thank the parent by name if they used it, and never add the child's name, school or marks yourself.
Google's content policy forbids offering "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange for a review, so a free session for a review is out. It also forbids asking only the parents you expect to be happy. Ask every family, in the same way. Our guide on replying to Google reviews has examples you can adapt.
How careful should a centre be with children's photos?
This is where tutoring differs from most businesses, and it deserves care. Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner, in its guidelines on meaningful consent, says that where a child cannot meaningfully consent, consent must come from the parents or guardians, and that in all but exceptional circumstances this means "anyone under the age of 13". Older students may be able to consent themselves, and the guidelines ask organizations to take their maturity into account.
In practice: get written permission from a parent before any photo of a child appears on your website, your Google profile or social media. Keep the permission on file. Never show a child's full name, school or marks beside a photo. Photos of the room, the materials, the tutors and the students' hands at work show a parent what the place looks like, with no child's face in them.
What about the Google Business Profile?
For a centre with a real location, the profile is where most local searches begin. Choose the category that best describes what you do; our guide on choosing the right Google profile category explains why this one setting matters so much. Keep the hours exact, including evenings and weekends if you open then.
Google's guidelines require that a business "can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours". A tutor who travels to students' homes can have a profile as a service-area business, with the address hidden. A tutor who teaches only online, with no in-person contact, does not meet that requirement, and a rented mailing address where nobody works, which Google calls a virtual office, is not eligible.
Which mistakes cost tutoring centres students?
The one page called "Programs" that lists subjects with no grades. Exam pages that still show last year's dates. Photos of children posted without written permission. Reviews that nobody asked for, so there are only a handful. Stock photos of smiling students who never set foot in the centre. And a website written for students, when the person reading it is a parent.
Where should a tutoring centre start?
Pick the subject and grade that bring you the most calls. Write its page this week, in the parent's words. Then write one exam page for the next provincial session, with the official link. Ask the families of your last ten students for a review. Our guide to how AI search is changing the way customers find local businesses explains why those specific words matter for assistants.
Licheo builds the website, search and AI work that big companies pay whole teams for, for small businesses like a tutoring centre. To see what a parent and an assistant find today, run the free Get Found Check. It reads your homepage, your domain settings and your security certificate, and returns a grade in under 60 seconds.
Sources
- Graduation assessment information for parents and students, Province of British Columbia, accessed 29 September 2026.
- 2026-27 Graduation Assessment Schedule, BC Ministry of Education and Child Care, updated 3 December 2025, accessed 29 September 2026.
- Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), Education Quality and Accountability Office, accessed 29 September 2026.
- Guidelines for obtaining meaningful consent, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, modified 11 August 2025, accessed 29 September 2026.
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help, Google, accessed 29 September 2026.
- Prohibited and restricted content, Maps User Generated Content Policy Help, Google, accessed 29 September 2026.