India-founded startup Gushwork is attracting major investor backing as it helps businesses capture customers through AI-powered search platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

The two-year-old company announced a $9 million seed round co-led by Susquehanna International Group and Lightspeed, with participation from B Capital and other investors.

The latest raise values the company at $33 million post-money, a sharp jump from its $7.5 million valuation following a $2.1 million pre-seed round in 2023.

The funding arrives as AI firms such as OpenAI and Perplexity increasingly challenge traditional web search models.

Established players like Google have responded by rolling out AI-generated overviews and conversational features directly within search results.

Founded in 2023 by Nayrhit Bhattacharya and Adithya Venkatesh, Gushwork initially focused on outsourcing workflows before pivoting toward search-led marketing.

The company’s platform deploys AI agents to generate optimized content, build backlinks, and track inbound leads without requiring large in-house teams.

More than 300 paying customers — roughly 95% based in the U.S. — now subscribe to the service, which starts at $800 per month.

Gushwork is currently operating at approximately $1.5 million in annual recurring revenue, with ambitions to double that within months.

Internal data shows around 20% of website traffic for clients now comes from AI-driven search and chat platforms, while those channels account for nearly 40% of inbound leads.

The broader shift toward AI discovery is accelerating, with tools like ChatGPT reportedly processing billions of prompts daily.

Headquartered in Delaware with operations in Bengaluru, Gushwork plans to use the new funding to expand engineering, refine its AI models, and scale go-to-market efforts.