---
title: "Methodology"
description: "How GhostOwl tests a site: three AI agents, three attempts each, one cold start, a success check per journey, and labeled simulated runs."
url: https://ghostowl.ai/methodology
---

# How GhostOwl tests a site

Each journey runs with three different AI browser agents, three attempts each, and one of those runs starts from a fresh cloud browser with no cookies or history. A run passes only when the agent reports what the journey asked for, checked against the site. The score is the share of runs that passed.

## What a journey is

A journey is one task a buyer, or a buyer's agent, would try: find pricing, compare plans, add a product to the cart, request a quote. Each one has a written goal and a success check. For "Find pricing," the agent has to report a real price for a paid plan taken from the site.

## Why three agents and three attempts

Agents differ. One reads the page structure, another looks at screenshots, and they get stuck in different places. The same agent can also succeed once and fail the next time. Running nine attempts per journey shows a pattern instead of one lucky or unlucky run.

## Why one run starts cold

Many agents run their own browser in a cloud virtual machine and arrive with no saved login, cookies or history. They see every consent banner, popup and bot check. Our cold-start run reproduces that.

## What the report records

-   Whether each run passed, and the step where it stopped if not
-   The agent's final message to its owner, quoted as written
-   Anything that blocked or slowed it: bot rules, CAPTCHAs, popups, cookie walls
-   Every agent and model version used, in the fidelity panel

## Simulated runs are labeled

If a run used a simulated probe instead of a live agent, the report says so in the fidelity panel. We never mix simulated results into a live score without the label.

## What we never do

-   Submit forms, fill carts or create accounts on sites the user doesn't own
-   Bypass consent banners or access controls
-   Share one site's results without its owner's permission

## See what agents do on your site

Free. No install, no signup.