> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abtestly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Scan a page

> How a Signals scan works. Install the ABTestly browser extension, open the side panel on your own live site, and capture the page, desktop and mobile, plus its structure. Walk several funnel steps in one pass.

<Note>
  **Beta.** Scanning is part of the Signals Beta. See the [Signals
  overview](/signals/overview) for what Beta means here.
</Note>

A scan happens **in your own browser, on your own live site**, while
you are logged in the way a real visitor or customer would be. That is
deliberate. The extension sees the page exactly as it renders for a
real person, including anything behind a login, and ABTestly never asks
for your credentials and never signs in for you.

## What a scan captures

When you run a scan on a page, the ABTestly browser extension captures
three things and sends them to the AI:

* A **desktop screenshot**, the page as it renders on a wide viewport.
* A **mobile screenshot**, the same page at a phone width, where most
  layout problems actually hide.
* The **page structure**, the DOM: the headings, buttons, forms, copy,
  and layout the browser rendered. This is the always present first
  signal described on the [overview](/signals/overview).

That capture is what the AI reads to produce ranked ideas on your
[idea board](/signals/read-a-scan).

## Run a scan

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the ABTestly browser extension">
    The Signals area of your dashboard links you to the extension. It
    adds a side panel to your browser. Install it once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the page you want to audit">
    Go to the real page on your live site, logged in as your visitors
    would be. Get it into the state you want the AI to see.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the side panel and start the scan">
    Open the ABTestly side panel and start a scan. The extension
    captures the desktop screenshot, the mobile screenshot, and the
    page structure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the ideas">
    The scan lands on your idea board as a ranked list of hypotheses.
    See [Read a scan](/signals/read-a-scan).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Funnel walks

A single page is a fine place to start, but the most useful audits
follow a path. A **funnel walk** captures several steps in one pass:
home to product to cart to checkout, or landing page to signup to
confirmation, capturing each step as you go.

Reading the steps together is what makes a funnel walk worth doing.
When a step loses far more visitors than the ones around it, Signals
can point at that specific page rather than telling you the funnel
leaks somewhere. If you have [connected
GA4](/signals/connect-google-analytics), the behavioral signal lines up
with the steps you walked, so a drop off between two pages carries a
real number, not a guess.

<Tip>
  Walk the funnel in the order a visitor would, and capture each step
  even if it looks fine. A step that looks fine but bleeds visitors is
  exactly the kind of finding a walk surfaces that a single page scan
  cannot.
</Tip>

## Privacy of a scan

* The capture runs **in your browser**. ABTestly does not crawl your
  site from the outside and does not need a login from you.
* Screenshots reflect **what you had on screen**. If a page shows real
  customer data while you scan, that data is in the screenshot, so
  scan on a test account when you can.
* The behavioral signal, if you connect it, is **read only**. See
  [Connect Google Analytics](/signals/connect-google-analytics).

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Add the behavioral signal" icon="chart-line" href="/signals/connect-google-analytics">
    Connect GA4 so scans can confirm ideas with real behavior.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Read the idea board" icon="list-check" href="/signals/read-a-scan">
    Ranking, campaigns, and triage once the scan comes back.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>