How do you get your brand mentioned inside ChatGPT and other AI answers? 🤖
At the Phuket summit, I sat down again with Anirudh Agarwal, CEO of GetMentions.ai and an SEO since 2009, for Inside A Hustler’s Brain. (Our 2025 interview in Chiang Mai lost its audio, so this was round two!) 🎙️
Anirudh explained how brand authority works in AI search, what it really costs to build a SaaS tool, and how AI has changed hiring at his agency. 🔥
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 🤝 Why conferences are worth it
- 📣 What GetMentions.ai does
- 💸 What it costs to build a SaaS tool in India
- 📜 17 years in SEO
- 🧰 Claude Code, OpenClaw and AI at work
- 🧑💼 Has AI cost anyone their job?
- 🏆 How brand authority works in AI search
- 🌏 DeepSeek vs US models, and how he keeps learning
🎥 Watch the full episode:
🤝 Why Conferences Are Worth It
“People say your network is your net worth, and I totally believe that.” Networking helps you “in ways you cannot even imagine.” 🌐
Attend talks if you can, but that’s not the main agenda. Meet as many business owners and people in the industry as you can, because you learn a lot from them. 🗣️
📣 What GetMentions.ai Does
GetMentions is a brand mentions platform that also provides AI visibility analytics. There are more than 200 AI visibility tools now, but Anirudh says GetMentions is solution-oriented: after the analytics, you can execute. 🎯
It provides citation intelligence and helps you get brand mentions, backed by content partnerships with more than 192,000 websites. 📊
Will he launch a lifetime deal on AppSumo? Not for now. The system analyzes every page and has real inventory costs, so he doesn’t think he could do justice to lifetime subscribers. 🚫
💸 What It Costs to Build a SaaS Tool in India
There are two routes, and Anirudh gave a rough breakdown:
- 🏠 In-house: You need to be technically sound, know DevOps, and know which tech to use (for scraping alone there’s Playwright, Selenium, and more). A junior Python developer costs about ₹8–10 LPA. He recommends a senior developer or a fractional CTO, for example via Upwork, to design the architecture.
- 🧮 Frugal build: 4–5 months with two engineers, one UI designer, and DevOps can cost about ₹20–25 lakh. If you’re not frugal, it can reach ₹80–90 lakh.
- 🏢 Agency route: Around ₹7–8 lakh a month, depending on the scope.
📜 17 Years in SEO
Anirudh started in 2009, freelancing first. Then he found a partner who had been doing SEO since about 2005–06 and gave him a head start. 🚀
They built lots of content websites, but after many updates the ad model wasn’t a stable revenue source, so he pivoted to running an agency. 🔄
On how SEO is evolving: “Anyone who’s working in tech, if he doesn’t adapt, he’s obsolete.” Google’s algorithm is a black box, but years of testing showed that links and other signals matter. AI platforms are new, so you find what works through experiments and case studies. 🧪
🧰 Claude Code, OpenClaw and AI at Work
His favourite tool is Claude Code, “hands down the best tool.” Even people at his company who don’t code use it for simple tasks. 💻
They also use OpenClaw a lot, but carefully because of data breach risks, and it isn’t fully integrated into their internal systems yet. 🔐
He explains agentic AI as an assistant that can act for you. For example, OpenClaw could monitor certain pages on a site, find technical issues, and write a brief for his team on how to fix them. 🕵️
His tip: even if a model claims a 1 million token context window, use maybe 50–100k, because beyond that it starts missing things. 🧠
🧑💼 Has AI Cost Anyone Their Job?
“I’ll be honest here. I haven’t fired anyone, but I have slowed down the hiring process.” ⏸️
Before, if two people left, they might hire four. Now, if two leave, they might hire none. His headcount is lower than it was two years ago. 📉
“Any authority is built via buzz.” Anirudh breaks buzz into two parts:
- 🎥 UGC like YouTube and Reddit
- 📰 PR in tier-one news outlets
“Consensus is what matters at the end of the day for any AI platform.” Models have weights and biases and are a black box. He’s not suggesting data poisoning, but smart marketers can “be everywhere so that you are unmissable by the AI.” 👀
His one piece of advice for 2026: be omnipresent. You can’t just stick to your website, so create video content too. 📹
Can AI content rank? “Anything which provides value can rank.” AI content isn’t the problem. Using it incorrectly is, like targeting keywords where you have no expertise or authority. ✍️
For another take on AI search visibility, read Andrea Abbondanza on ranking in Google and LLMs. 🔗
🌏 DeepSeek vs US Models, and How He Keeps Learning
DeepSeek broke the internet because it was a chain-of-thought (CoT) thinking model before the top labs released one, and it was open source. After that, every lab started making thinking models. He gives DeepSeek a lot of credit for that. 🧩
But today, Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT are “a little above DeepSeek,” so he wouldn’t use it for many things. Every country trains its models in its own way, and each has its own biases and guardrails. 🌐
To stay updated, YouTube is his number one source. He searches for topics in the news, like RAG systems, agentic AI, or OpenClaw, and watches tutorials. Then he researches with NotebookLM, which he calls “highly underrated”: build your own list of sources and it does the research, including mind maps. 📚
For more on AI and SEO, read Adam Chronister on agency success in the AI era. 🔗
📝 Key Takeaways From the Anirudh Agarwal Interview
- 🤝 Your network is your net worth, so go to conferences and meet people
- 🏆 AI authority comes from buzz: UGC plus tier-one PR
- 🌐 Be omnipresent so AI can’t miss your brand
- ✍️ AI content can rank if it adds value and you have authority
- 🧠 Keep context to 50–100k tokens even if the model allows more
- 💸 A frugal SaaS build in India can cost ₹20–25 lakh
- 📚 Learn with YouTube and NotebookLM
❓ FAQs About Anirudh Agarwal
Who is Anirudh Agarwal?
Anirudh Agarwal is the CEO of GetMentions.ai and an SEO since 2009. He started with freelancing and content websites, then pivoted to running an agency.
What is GetMentions.ai?
A brand mentions platform with AI visibility analytics and citation intelligence. It’s backed by content partnerships with more than 192,000 websites.
Through buzz: user-generated content on platforms like YouTube and Reddit, plus PR in tier-one news outlets. Consensus is what AI platforms value.
How much does it cost to build a SaaS tool in India?
Anirudh estimates about ₹20–25 lakh for a frugal 4–5 month build, up to ₹80–90 lakh if you’re not frugal, or about ₹7–8 lakh a month through an agency.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
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- How AI KILLED 80% of His Affiliate Income 😱 ft. Anil Agarwal Every Affiliate Marketer Must Watch
- $0 to $13M: How Lawrence Hitches Scaled Studio Hawk With AI SEO
If Anirudh’s insights helped you, share this with a marketer who wants to show up in AI answers. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.