# Is it worth running an A/A test first to check my Croct setup?

Asked by lena_ab on 2026-07-30. Tags: ab-testing, experiments, validation.

before i trust any real results i want to sanity-check the plumbing, so my plan
is an A/A test: two identical variants, same content, and just confirm that
traffic splits evenly and the goal counts the way i expect.

is that a sane thing to do on Croct, and is there anything specific i should
watch for while it runs

## 2 answers

### Accepted answer from Owen Tran (2026-08-01)

It is a sane check and I have done it before rolling out a new goal. A couple
of things to line up first.

An experiment attaches to an experience with a single primary goal, and that
goal has to be an event you are already tracking. So the real value of the
A/A run is verifying that the goal fires and gets counted, not just that
traffic splits. Configure your allocation and your two identical variants
(Croct allows 2 to 5), then let it collect.

What to watch: the experiment stays "in progress" until each variant reaches
at least 1000 visitors, at least 25 conversions, and at least one full week.
Do not read anything into the numbers before all three clear for both
variants, an A/A on thin data will look lopsided just from noise.

One reassurance on the split itself: bot filtering keeps known bots out of the
counts, so a crawler wave will not quietly skew one side.

#### Reply from lena_ab (2026-08-02)

ran it exactly like this. split came out even once both variants cleared
the thresholds and the goal counted on both sides, so the plumbing is
good. thanks

### Answer from hannah_cro (2026-08-01)

Adding one expectation so you are not surprised: with two truly identical
variants no recommended winner should ever surface. There is no real
difference to detect, so probability to be best will hover around 50/50 and
neither side will cross the 95% bar. If a winner did get flagged on a pure
A/A, that would be the actual red flag worth chasing.