Gagik received as compensation for his kingdom the district of Lycandus in Asia Minor and the town of Pizu (also spelled Bizou), in the vicinity of Caesarea. He was also granted the use of a palace on the Bosphorus in Constantinople and a pension from the imperial treasury. Several seals testify "Kakikios Aniotes" (Gagik of Ani) as duke of the thema of Charsianon. During his time in exile, according to Matthew of Edessa, Gagik also took part in a theological debate between him and the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople, defending the Armenian Church and its tradition and rites.