Gushwork’s AI Revolution: Transforming Customer Acquisition in the Digital Age
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining online business discovery, India-founded startup Gushwork is at the forefront, enabling companies to attract customers through platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. This innovative approach has garnered significant investor interest, culminating in a recent $9 million seed funding round led by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Lightspeed. Additional participants included B Capital, Seaborne Capital, Beenext, Sparrow Capital, and 2.2 Capital. This investment elevates Gushwork’s valuation to $33 million post-money, a substantial increase from its previous $7.5 million valuation following a $2.1 million pre-seed round led by Lightspeed in July 2023. To date, Gushwork has secured a total of $11 million in funding.
The funding surge coincides with a transformative period in the search industry, where AI-driven tools are challenging traditional web search paradigms. Companies like OpenAI and Perplexity are leading this shift, prompting established players such as Google to integrate AI-generated overviews and conversational features into their search products. Gushwork is strategically positioning itself within this evolving landscape by offering automated marketing agents designed to enhance business visibility in AI-driven discovery channels.
Established in 2023 by co-founders Nayrhit Bhattacharya and Adithya Venkatesh, Gushwork initially aimed to assist small and medium-sized businesses in outsourcing workflows through a combination of AI and human expertise. However, recognizing a growing demand for improved online visibility, the startup shifted its focus toward search-led marketing solutions. Bhattacharya noted, When we started, we were focused on helping businesses outsource faster and outsource better, emphasizing the increasing customer interest in search optimization.
Gushwork’s platform leverages a network of AI agents to automate the creation and updating of search-optimized content. It also facilitates the building of backlinks—typically ranging from 10 to 20 per customer—through a network of approximately 200 to 300 partner websites. Additionally, the platform includes an integrated content management system to monitor inbound leads. The overarching goal is to enable businesses to appear prominently in both traditional search results and AI-generated answers without the necessity of large in-house marketing teams.
Currently, Gushwork boasts over 300 paying customers, with approximately 95% based in the United States. Subscription plans start at $800 per month. Since launching its AI search-focused product three months ago, the company has achieved an annualized recurring revenue (ARR) of about $1.5 million. Bhattacharya projects this figure to reach between $3 million and $3.5 million in the next three months, highlighting a monthly growth rate of 50% to 80%.
Among Gushwork’s clientele, approximately 20% of website traffic originates from AI-driven search and chat platforms. Notably, these sources account for around 40% of inbound leads, indicating a higher intent among users from AI-driven channels. This trend is already translating into tangible business outcomes. For instance, a professional services client has secured contracts valued between $200,000 and $350,000 after adopting Gushwork’s platform. While specific client names remain confidential, Bhattacharya emphasized that many users are experiencing significant pipeline growth as AI-driven discovery gains momentum.
Gushwork’s customer base primarily comprises high-ticket B2B service providers, industrial distributors, and contract manufacturers, predominantly in the U.S. The average subscription fee ranges from $800 to $900 per month, translating to an annual contract value of approximately $9,000 to $10,000.
The shift toward AI-driven discovery is still in its nascent stages but is rapidly gaining traction. Tools such as generative AI chatbots and AI web browsers are increasingly utilized by buyers for vendor and product research. In July 2025, OpenAI reported that ChatGPT received about 2.5 billion prompts daily worldwide, including approximately 330 million from U.S. users. Bhattacharya observed that this trend is beginning to reshape how businesses approach online visibility.
With the new funding, Gushwork plans to expand its engineering team, enhance model accuracy, and scale its go-to-market efforts. The startup has a waitlist of over 800 businesses that it intends to onboard in the near future. Headquartered in Delaware with an office in Bengaluru, Gushwork employs about 70 individuals in India, along with several contractors.
