---
description: "Targeting groups decide which pages an experiment runs on: URL rules, estimated reach, and time to results."
---

# Targeting Groups

A targeting group is a set of URL rules describing a slice of your site: your home page, every product page, every collection except clearance. Groups are reusable, and the Experiments screen groups your tests by them.

![Choosing a targeting group](/v2/targeting-groups.png)

Starting a new experiment opens this picker. Each group shows its traffic over the last 7 days and how many experiments use it.

## Building a group

![The targeting rule builder](/v2/targeting-builder.png)

**Generate with AI** describes the pages in plain language and lets Dalton write the rules. It needs the Dalton script installed, since it reads your actual site. **Write myself** gives you the builder directly.

### Rules

Each condition reads as: path **does** or **does not** *[operator]* *[value]*.

| Operator | Matches when the path |
| --- | --- |
| **Exact match** | is exactly the value |
| **Simple match** | equals the value, ignoring query parameters |
| **Starts with** | begins with the value, such as `/products` |
| **Ends with** | ends with the value |
| **Contains** | contains the value anywhere |
| **Wildcard** | fits a pattern, such as `/products/*` |
| **Regex** | matches a regular expression |

Combine with **AND** or **OR**, and nest groups for anything more involved.

Rules match the **path only**. Query strings and `#` fragments are stripped first, so `/products/serum?utm_source=meta` is tested as `/products/serum`.

### The reach panel

As you build, the panel underneath shows:

- **Estimated reach**, visits in the last 7 days
- **Pages matched**, distinct paths covered
- **Time to results**, how long a test on this group would run

Time to results uses the same calculation as an experiment's [planned window](/experiments/how-experiments-run#the-planned-window), so you can see before launching whether a group resolves in two weeks or six. Use the search box to type a real URL and confirm it matches.

## Choosing the scope

A rule matching 40 product pages resolves in a fortnight where one matching a single page may never resolve. Widen for generic changes such as trust badges or delivery messaging. Narrow when the change only makes sense on one template.

One constraint: **only test elements that exist, and mean the same thing, on every page in the group.** See [Multi-Page Experiments](/advanced/multi-page-experiments).