Gushwork is betting on AI searching for potential customers — and early results are showing

As AI-powered search tools reshape how businesses are discovered online, a startup founded in India has begun Flowing action It helps companies attract customers from platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity – with early traction starting to attract investor support.

The two-year-old startup said Thursday it has raised $9 million in a seed round led by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Lightspeed, with participation from B Capital, Seaborne Capital, Beenext, Sparrow Capital and 2.2 Capital. The round values ​​Gushwork at $33 million after cash, up from about $7.5 million after Lightspeed led $2.1 million in pre-funding In July 2023, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The startup said the latest funding brings Gushwork’s total funding to $11 million.

Funding comes as artificial intelligence companies including OpenAI and Confusion Starting to eliminate traditional web search, prompting established companies like Google to introduce it Overviews generated by artificial intelligence And others Conversation features via their search products. Gushwork is betting that this shift will create a new opportunity to help companies stand out in AI-driven discovery channels using automated marketing agents.

Founded in 2023 by Nayrhit Bhattacharya (pictured above, right) and Adithya Venkatesh (pictured above, left), Gushwork initially focused on helping SMEs outsource workflows using a combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise. The startup began narrowing its focus towards search-based marketing after seeing strong demand from customers for help improving online visibility.

“When we started, we focused on helping companies outsource faster and outsource better,” Bhattacharya said in an interview with TechCrunch, adding that it has become increasingly difficult to ignore the research process from customers.

The Gushwork platform uses a network of AI agents to automatically create and update search-optimized content, build backlinks — typically 10 to 20 per lead — through a network of approximately 200 to 300 partner websites, and track inbound leads through an integrated content management system. The goal is to help companies show up in both traditional search results and AI-generated answers without relying on large in-house marketing teams, Bhattacharya said.

The startup says it has signed up more than 300 paid customers — about 95% of them in the U.S. — with subscriptions starting at $800 per month. Gushwork is currently generating annual recurring revenue of about $1.5 million after launching its AI research-focused product about three months ago, and is targeting $3 million to $3.5 million in the next three months, Bhattacharya said, adding that the startup is growing about 50% to 80% month over month.

Across Gushwork’s customer base, about 20% of website traffic now comes from AI-driven search and chat platforms, but these sources account for about 40% of inbound leads, Bhattacharya said, citing the startup’s internal data.

High-intent leads actually translate into business results for some clients, Bhattacharya said. In one case, a professional services client entered into contracts worth between $200,000 and $350,000 after adopting the platform, he said, declining to reveal the client’s name. He added that many users are seeing meaningful pipeline growth as AI-driven discovery gains traction.

Today, Gushwork’s customer base is concentrated among high-ticket B2B service providers, industrial distributors, and contract manufacturers, especially in the United States, Bhattacharya said. He added that the average startup subscription ranges from $800 to $900 per month, or roughly $9,000 to $10,000 in annual contract value.

The shift toward AI-driven discovery is still in its early stages, but gaining momentum. Tools such as AI-powered generative chatbots and AI-powered web browsers are increasingly being used by buyers to research sellers and products. OpenAI said in July 2025 that ChatGPT It receives about 2.5 billion claims daily Globally, including nearly 330 million users from the United States. This trend is beginning to reshape how some companies approach online visibility, Bhattacharya said.

Gushwork plans to use the new funding to expand its engineering team, improve model accuracy and scale its go-to-market efforts, Bhattacharya said. He added that the startup has more than 800 companies on its waiting list and plans to start joining it.

The startup, which is headquartered in Delaware and has an office in Bengaluru, has about 70 employees in India, along with several contractors.