Issue 25 of The Pointer Index · Monthly round-up for October 2026 · Week ending 25 October 2026
The employer that posted the most unique GTM ads in Australia and New Zealand this month makes collars for cattle. And AI search has gone from a niche ask in marketing ads to a regular line in the SEO job description.
The busiest hirer in October sells collars for cattle
Halter posted 43 unique GTM ads between 1 and 25 October, more than any other employer in ANZ. Stryker posted 42, Aon and ANZ 41 each, Amazon (including AWS) 40.
| Month (1st to 25th) | Halter unique GTM ads |
|---|---|
| April | 26 |
| May | 13 |
| June | 11 |
| July | 28 |
| August | 13 |
| September | 15 |
| October | 43 |
Its previous busiest month this year was July, with 28. October is half as much again, and nearly three times September. It went up on its careers site, on LinkedIn and on Seek at the same time. On Seek it posted 12 GTM ads this month against 7 across the whole of May to September.
The titles explain it. 27 of Halter's 42 distinct roles are in the field: 16 territory managers, plus regional sales managers, business development executives and key account leads. The territories are Roma, Jericho and Rockhampton in Queensland; Traralgon, Camperdown and Horsham in Victoria; Wagga Wagga, Walgett and the NSW South Coast; Mount Gambier and the Adelaide Hills; Bunbury; Hobart; and Northland and North Canterbury back home in New Zealand. Every Australian state is on the list. Around them sit the roles you need once a field team exists: revenue operations, lifecycle marketing, onboarding, customer success and content.
This is a company building a rural field sales team in one go. If you are hiring agricultural, regional or field sellers in Queensland, Victoria or New South Wales this quarter, Halter is now competing with you for them.
October's top 25 GTM hirers
The 25 employers that posted the most unique GTM ads in ANZ between 1 and 25 October.
| # | Employer | Unique ads | Total ads | Main function |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halter | 43 | 67 | Sales 67% |
| 2 | Stryker | 42 | 94 | Sales 76% |
| 3 | Aon | 41 | 101 | Account mgmt 82% |
| 4 | ANZ | 41 | 83 | Account mgmt 86% |
| 5 | Amazon (incl. AWS) | 40 | 71 | Sales 25% |
| 6 | Microsoft | 39 | 55 | Presales 35% |
| 7 | Westpac | 38 | 67 | Account mgmt 66% |
| 8 | 31 | 70 | Sales 30% | |
| 9 | Flight Centre | 31 | 50 | Marketing 26% |
| 10 | Woolworths Group | 31 | 43 | Marketing 67% |
| 11 | Accenture | 30 | 44 | Account mgmt 34% |
| 12 | Publicis | 29 | 32 | Marketing 53% |
| 13 | NAB | 28 | 57 | Account mgmt 56% |
| 14 | Asahi Beverages | 27 | 39 | Sales 36% |
| 15 | Gallagher | 26 | 48 | Sales 67% |
| 16 | Bapcor | 25 | 49 | Sales 80% |
| 17 | Uber | 24 | 35 | Growth 43% |
| 18 | Genuine Parts (Repco) | 24 | 24 | Sales 54% |
| 19 | Datacom | 23 | 79 | Presales 53% |
| 20 | DuluxGroup | 22 | 56 | Sales 70% |
| 21 | Johnson & Johnson | 22 | 44 | Sales 89% |
| 22 | Southern Cross Austereo | 21 | 56 | Marketing 38% |
| 23 | Salesforce | 21 | 55 | Sales 91% |
| 24 | Coca-Cola Europacific Partners | 21 | 37 | Sales 78% |
| 25 | Fletcher Building | 21 | 24 | Sales 33% |
Three of the four big banks are in the top 13, and all three are hiring account managers: ANZ, Westpac and NAB posted 107 unique ads between them, 62 of them relationship, business banking, commercial or agribusiness roles. Aon is the other account-management name, with client executive roles in six cities.
Seven of the 25 are tech companies, counting Halter, Uber and Datacom alongside Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce. The other 18 are banks, insurance brokers, medical devices, auto parts, drinks, paint, building products, retail, travel, consulting, advertising and media.
October's top 25 tech GTM hirers
The same ranking, tech companies only: software, internet platforms, cloud, cybersecurity, IT services and payments.
| # | Employer | Unique ads | Total ads | Main function |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halter | 43 | 67 | Sales 67% |
| 2 | Amazon (incl. AWS) | 40 | 71 | Sales 25% |
| 3 | Microsoft | 39 | 55 | Presales 35% |
| 4 | 31 | 70 | Sales 30% | |
| 5 | Uber | 24 | 35 | Growth 43% |
| 6 | Datacom | 23 | 79 | Presales 53% |
| 7 | Salesforce | 21 | 55 | Sales 91% |
| 8 | Employment Hero | 19 | 21 | Sales 57% |
| 9 | DXC Technology | 16 | 25 | Sales 52% |
| 10 | SoftwareONE | 16 | 19 | Presales 32% |
| 11 | Palo Alto Networks | 15 | 21 | Sales 29% |
| 12 | TikTok | 15 | 20 | Account mgmt 40% |
| 13 | Cyera | 14 | 29 | Presales 83% |
| 14 | HungryPanda | 14 | 29 | Sales 55% |
| 15 | carsales | 13 | 28 | Marketing 57% |
| 16 | Nearmap | 12 | 43 | Customer success 35% |
| 17 | Quantium | 12 | 18 | Sales 61% |
| 18 | Simpro | 12 | 16 | Sales 56% |
| 19 | GitLab | 12 | 15 | Sales 33% |
| 20 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | 11 | 43 | Sales 65% |
| 21 | Airwallex | 11 | 28 | Sales 50% |
| 22 | Global Payments | 11 | 13 | Customer success 46% |
| 23 | Horizon3 AI | 11 | 12 | Sales 67% |
| 24 | CyberCX | 11 | 11 | Account mgmt 64% |
| 25 | Teltonika | 11 | 11 | Sales 73% |
Halter tops this list too, three ads clear of Amazon. After Google on 31, no tech company posted more than 24.
Nine of the 25 started in Australia or New Zealand: Halter, Datacom, Employment Hero, carsales, Nearmap, Quantium, Simpro, Airwallex and CyberCX. Four are security companies: Palo Alto Networks, Cyera, Horizon3 AI and CyberCX. Cyera's ads are mostly for sales engineers, 83% of them presales.
Atlassian and Canva are missing. Atlassian posted 5 unique GTM ads in October and Canva 4. Neither has posted 20 in a month since April.
AI search has moved into the SEO job description
Of the marketing roles first advertised in September and October that ask for SEO, 29.5% also ask for AI search: generative or answer engine optimisation (GEO, AEO), AI Overviews, visibility in ChatGPT and Perplexity, or "AI search" by name. In April to June it was 15.4%.
| Marketing roles | Apr to Jun | Jul to Aug | Sep to Oct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask for SEO | 13.5% | 16.0% | 13.8% |
| Of those, also ask for AI search | 15.4% | 18.6% | 29.5% |
| All marketing roles asking for AI search | 2.2% | 3.2% | 4.4% |
| Employers asking for it | 122 | 138 | 156 |
The share of marketing roles asking for SEO has not changed. What SEO means has. A performance marketing role at BOQ asks for "SEO and answer engine optimisation (AEO)". A digital affiliate role at OFX asks the hire to "monitor how AI-powered comparison tools (e.g. AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity) are affecting referral traffic". A general manager role at LMG lists "AI search (LLMs)" ahead of traditional search in its acquisition mix.
Job titles have not caught up: 17, 17 and 20 titles across the three periods name GEO, AEO or AI search. RACV's "Senior Manager, AI Discovery & Performance Marketing" and Tourism Holdings' "SEO & AI Search Specialist" are still rare. Employers are adding AI search to the SEO role they already have. If you are hiring an SEO lead this quarter, expect candidates to be asked about it in interviews, whether or not it is in your ad.
The market in October
21,153 active GTM roles at the close of the week ending 25 October. Median advertised base $100,000 on 2,644 ads that print a salary, quartiles $82,500 to $127,605. By function: presales $150,000, growth $120,000, partnerships $116,030, sales $103,179, account management $102,500, customer success $100,000, marketing $90,000, and RevOps $87,500 (directional).
Ricky Pearl, Pointer Strategy
pointerstrategy.com/market-data
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*Methodology.* "GTM" means Sales, Account Management, Marketing, Customer Success, Presales, RevOps, Enablement, Partnerships, Growth, Product Marketing and GTM Engineering. October is ads first seen 1 to 25 October 2026. Recruitment agency listings are excluded throughout. A unique ad is a distinct title per employer per posting week, so city and channel copies in the same week count once; ties are ranked on total ads. Employers posting under more than one name are merged. Salary medians are published from 50 or more disclosing ads and labelled directional from 30 to 49. The live dashboard updates continuously and may differ slightly. If a number looks wrong, reply and we will check the underlying ads.
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