8 July 2023. Delhi. A name called out on stage.
I still remember the sound of it. Our agency's name, announced into a hall in New Delhi, a long way from our office in Mogappair East. I walked up alone, but I have never felt less alone on a stage. Back in Chennai and Vijayawada, the whole team was glued to phones, waiting for one WhatsApp update.
The award was presented by actor Mr. Sonu Sood, a moment the whole hall applauded. The trophy plate reads International Business Award, July 2023, 2nd Edition. It now sits in our Chennai office where every client meeting can see it. What it stands for took eleven years to earn by that point. Late nights from the web team under Kanth, SEO battles fought by Satheesh's team, and clients who trusted us with their growth long before any jury did.
The trophy went to one pair of hands that day. The recognition belonged to a team of 50+ and to every client who built it with us.
Frames we will never forget: 8 July 2023
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We wrote about the win the same month, in the role our clients played in the award-winning journey. Today's post is about what we did with it.
What the jury actually recognized
Award juries do not hand trophies for effort. From what we understood of the evaluation, three things carried our entry.
- Lead generation that sells. Our real estate lead generation work and school admission campaigns were producing buyers and enrolments, measured in bookings and seats filled.
- Marketing measured in revenue. Reports our clients could take to their boards, with business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
- Leadership that shows up. Strategy led personally, in the room with clients, not behind an account manager wall. My full profile is here for anyone evaluating who they would actually work with.
2023 to 2026: the years search itself changed
The search world split in two. We built for both.
In 2023, when we won the award, people Googled. By 2026, a growing share of them ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Meta AI instead, and take the first answer. My read is that this is the biggest shift in digital marketing since mobile, and most agencies in India are still catching up to it.
We did not wait. Satheesh and Saravan rebuilt our entire SEO delivery around one question: will an AI engine cite this page? Three connected services came out of that work.
- AI SEO. Websites engineered to rank on Google and get cited by AI platforms in the same build. Our SEO services in Chennai now carry this layer by default.
- GEO, Generative Engine Optimization. Making your brand the answer AI gives when a buyer asks for a recommendation. Full details on our GEO agency page for Chennai and Vijayawada.
- AEO, Answer Engine Optimization. Winning voice search and direct answer boxes before a competitor does.
We practised on ourselves first. Before selling GEO to a single client, we fixed Glint's own AI visibility, and as of July 2026 that patient-zero discipline is why we can show live proof instead of promises.
Deeper roots in the industries we know best
The award could have tempted us to chase every vertical. We did the opposite and went deeper where we already win: real estate developers seeking qualified buyers across South India, schools and colleges filling admissions with the right parents, and healthcare and B2B brands across Chennai, Vijayawada and Hyderabad. Our Chennai digital marketing team anchors all of it.
🏆 3 Years of Proof, Not Promises
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The 14-year foundation underneath it all
The award celebrated a moment. The foundation took 14 years. Glint Creatives started in 2012, and everything we learned in the eleven years before Delhi is what the three years after Delhi were built on. Our journey posts since 2012 keep coming back to one rule.
Weeks after Delhi, in August 2023, I was invited as Chief Guest at the Investiture Ceremony of DG Vaishnav College, Chennai, an honour the college documented in its BBA newsletter (PDF) and its AQAR 2023-24 quality report (PDF). The moment lives on our Instagram too: the chief guest post and the award week feature. We kept investing in future talent too, through our recruitment drive at Women's Christian College and our work in empowering tomorrow's leaders.
The journey wall: every recognition since 2012
The first clients, the first office. The 14-year story begins in Chennai.
Best Digital Marketing Agency, awarded by the AP Government.
10 years of Glint celebrated across Chennai and Vijayawada offices.
alt="The International Business Award 2023 trophy held by Kalyan Raj Bandaru" loading="lazy">The plate reads International Business Award, July 2023, 2nd Edition. It sits in our Mogappair East office today.
Founder invited to the Investiture Ceremony, documented in the college's newsletter and AQAR report.
For the ICGC child wellness website crafted by our web team.
Leadership birthday and anniversary marked with a lunch donation to SKCV Children's Trust, Vijayawada.
Recognition for delivery excellence beyond Tamil Nadu and Andhra.
180+ Justdial ratings with zero negatives, and a 100% recommend score on Facebook.
AI SEO, GEO and AEO delivered to clients. 3 years after the award, 14 years in, still hungry.
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The award film from 8 July 2023
▶ Watch the award film on YouTube
Three years on, this film still gets passed around the office every July. Watch it once and you will understand why.
The next chapter starts today
Anniversaries are for looking back, briefly. Then the work continues. Here is what we are building for our clients right now.
- Websites that rank #1 on Google and get cited by ChatGPT and Gemini in the same campaign.
- GEO programmes that make a brand the default answer AI gives in its category.
- AEO structures that own voice search and answer boxes.
- Faster sites and sharper content for real estate, schools and growing brands across Chennai, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and all of India.
14 years down. The award marked year eleven. In my experience, the agencies that last are the ones still uncomfortable with their own success, and honestly, we are.