Personalisation FAQ guide
Log in to add to favouritesPage last updated 26 February 2026
Storage and persistence
Does personalisation rely on cookies?
No. Contensis personalisation runs client-side in the browser and does not rely on third-party cookies.
Signals and custom attributes are stored using browser storage (e.g. session and local storage). This enables privacy-first personalisation without requiring third-party tracking cookies.
However, your cookie consent implementation may affect whether browser storage is permitted.
Does personalisation persist across sessions?
Yes, in most implementations.
As signals and attributes are stored in local storage, they:
- Persist across page reloads
- Persist across browser sessions
- Persist if a user returns the next day
- Remain until explicitly cleared
Is personalisation session-based?
No.
Browser local storage does not expire automatically and is not session-scoped. If session-only behaviour is required, you must explicitly:
What happens if a user clears their browser data?
All stored signals and attributes and audiences are removed.
As a result:
- Behaviour-based audiences reset
- Returning users may see default variants
- Personalised journeys restart
Does personalisation persist across devices or browsers?
No.
Personalisation is:
- Browser-specific
- Device-specific
- Domain-specific
It does not automatically sync between browsers or devices.
Cookie consent & privacy
What happens if a visitor declines cookies?
It depends on how consent is implemented on your site.
If your consent platform:
- Blocks only cookies → personalisation may still function
- Blocks all browser storage (including local storage) → behaviour-based signals may not persist
Contensis personalisation itself does not require third-party cookies, but storage availability depends on your consent configuration.
Is personalisation GDPR compliant?
Contensis personalisation is designed to operate without third-party cookies and can be implemented in a privacy-first way.
However, compliance depends on:
- Whether personal data is used
- How consent is handled
- How analytics tracking is configured
You should ensure your implementation aligns with your organisation’s data protection policies.
Search engines, AI & automated traffic
Do search engines see personalised content?
In most cases, no.
Search engine crawlers typically:
- Do not persist browser storage
- Do not simulate multi-page behaviour
- Do not accumulate signals over time
They generally see the default (non-personalised) experience.
What about AI agents (e.g. ChatGPT browsing, AI crawlers)?
AI agents and automated traffic typically:
- Do not persist browser storage
- Do not simulate returning visits
- Do not accumulate behavioural signals
As a result, they usually see the default experience rather than behaviour-based personalised variants.
Can bots trigger personalisation?
Only in limited cases.
If personalisation depends solely on immediate request data (e.g. user agent or IP-based logic), it may resolve at runtime.
However, behaviour-based personalisation (e.g. “viewed 3 course pages”) will not trigger for bots, as it requires interaction and persistent storage.
Measurement and analytics
How can we measure which variant a visitor sees?
Because personalisation is evaluated in the browser, variant exposure must be tracked client-side.
Best practice is to:
- Capture the resolved variant at render time
- Send an analytics event (e.g. via dataLayer, GA4, or another analytics tool)
- Associate it with session and conversion data if required
Page views alone do not indicate which personalised variant was displayed.
Does personalisation expire automatically?
No — not by default.
Signals and attributes stored in browser storage remain until:
- Cleared by the user
- Removed programmatically
- Expired via custom TTL logic
If expiry behaviour is required (e.g. “interest in clearing expires after 14 days”), this must be implemented explicitly.