Q: What happens if I leave targeting empty?

Empty targeting means “everyone matching the page URL.” The test runs for every visitor who lands on a page that matches the test's URL rule. This is the right default — only narrow the audience when you have a specific reason.

Q: What's the difference between visitor_type and custom_property?

visitor_type is a derived field with two values — “new” (no prior visit in our records) and “returning” (we've seen this visitor before). It's calculated automatically from the visitor UUID cookie. custom_property is whatever you tell us about the visitor via optimo.identify — completely under your control.

Question 1

What happens if I leave targeting empty?

Accepted Answer

Empty targeting means &ldquo;everyone matching the page URL.&rdquo; The test runs for every visitor who lands on a page that matches the test's URL rule. This is the right default — only narrow the audience when you have a specific reason.

Question 2

How do AND vs OR groups work?

Accepted Answer

Rules live in a tree. The top level is a group with an operator (AND or OR) and a list of children. Each child is either a condition (e.g. country equals US) or another nested group. AND means every child must match. OR means at least one must. You can nest groups arbitrarily deep, which lets you express patterns like &ldquo;(US OR Canada) AND device = mobile.&rdquo;

Question 3

Where exactly does Otter A/B evaluate targeting — server or browser?

Accepted Answer

Both, depending on the field. Country and region resolve from the visitor's IP server-side, then mirror to the SDK so the client agrees. UTM, device, browser, OS, day of week, screen width, and similar fields evaluate on both sides. Cookies evaluate only in the browser because the server never sees cookie contents.

Question 4

Will narrowing targeting reset my test?

Accepted Answer

It doesn't reset assignment, but it does change the eligible audience for new visitors. Visitors already assigned keep their variant (assignment is sticky), but new visitors who no longer match the targeting won't enter the test. This can shift the variant ratio over time, so prefer to finalize targeting before launch.

Question 5

How do custom properties get into the targeting context?

Accepted Answer

Call optimo.identify({ plan: 'pro', signupYear: 2024 }) from your code. Whatever you pass becomes a property on the visitor; targeting can then test custom_property with key=plan, operator=equals, values=['pro']. Identify is also the right hook for user-scoped data like signup date, lifetime value, or feature flags exposed to A/B.

Question 6

What's the difference between visitor_type and custom_property?

Accepted Answer

visitor_type is a derived field with two values — &ldquo;new&rdquo; (no prior visit in our records) and &ldquo;returning&rdquo; (we've seen this visitor before). It's calculated automatically from the visitor UUID cookie. custom_property is whatever you tell us about the visitor via optimo.identify — completely under your control.

Question 7

Why are my country/region rules sometimes wrong?

Accepted Answer

Geo-IP isn't perfect. We use a current commercial database and refresh it weekly, but VPN traffic, corporate proxies, and mobile carrier hopping can produce surprising results. For business-critical targeting, prefer signals you control (cookies, UTM tags, custom properties) over IP-derived ones.

Question 8

Can I use regex in targeting?

Accepted Answer

Yes — string fields support a regex operator that runs case-insensitive matches against the value. The regex evaluates against the field's value directly (not anchored unless you anchor it yourself). Use sparingly: regex is the source of most targeting bugs because typos pass validation but match the wrong audiences in production.

Question 9

Do targeting rules apply to preview mode?

Accepted Answer

No. Preview mode bypasses both targeting and triggers so you can QA any variant on any page the test targets. This is intentional — you couldn't review a personalized variant otherwise. Real visitors still go through full targeting evaluation.

Question 10

What's the difference between an A/B/n test's targeting and a Personalization test's targeting?

Accepted Answer

Mechanically the same — both use the same rule tree and the same fields. The difference is intent. In an A/B/n test, you pick one audience; everyone in that audience is randomly assigned a variant. In a Personalization test, you write one rule set per variant, and each visitor sees the variant whose audience they match (with no randomization). The wizard surfaces the right UI for each.

Targeting

Targeting

Rule tree at a glance

Field reference

Location

Device & browser

Traffic source

Time

Visitor & custom signals

Operator reference

Equality

Substring (string fields only)

Existence

Numeric & time

Targeting tips

Frequently asked questions