How does a geo targeted cookie banner choose a rule?
CookieConsentHQ uses location information supplied by Cloudflare's edge network at request time to choose the regional banner rule. The location can identify a country, a US state or a Canadian province for the rules you configure.
This gives you a defined source for the geographic decision without asking visitors to select their region first. The rule determines which consent model applies for that region: opt-in, opt-out or notice. Each region also has a setting for whether to honor a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. GPC support is included on every plan, while the regional rule specifies how it is handled for that location.
Geo-targeting is about which banner configuration a visitor receives. It does not, by itself, decide which legal requirements apply to your website or which model you should use. For background on the different US rules you may need to assess, see US privacy laws. The product provides the location-based controls; you decide the rules to configure.
Which regional presets can I use on Free?
All plans include three regional presets: a mixed regional setup, opt-in everywhere and US opt-out everywhere. The mixed preset uses opt-in for the EU and EEA, UK, Switzerland, Brazil and Quebec, US opt-out, and a notice elsewhere.
These presets give you starting configurations without building your own region list. Opt-in everywhere asks every visitor to opt in before non-essential cookies, and US opt-out everywhere applies the opt-out model to every visitor, which suits businesses that only serve the United States. The mixed preset assigns different models according to the listed places, including a distinct treatment for Quebec among Canadian provinces.
A preset is a configuration choice, not a guarantee that the selected model satisfies every law relevant to your site. Check the locations you serve and the type of consent experience you intend to provide before choosing one. You can also read the explanation of Global Privacy Control to understand the signal named in the regional settings.
Can I create my own country and state rules?
Yes, Starter and higher plans allow custom region rules by country, US state and Canadian province. Free includes the three presets but does not include custom region rules.
With a custom region, you select an opt-in, opt-out or notice model and decide whether the region should honor GPC. This allows one set of configured locations to use a different model from another set without describing an entire country as if all its regions necessarily shared the same settings. The available levels are specific: countries, US states and Canadian provinces. Do not assume city-level or postal-code targeting is included.
If regional configuration is the reason you are choosing a paid plan, Starter begins at $8 per month with 150,000 monthly pageviews. You can check the other allowances and annual prices on pricing. Starter also includes weekly scheduled scans and the Consent Mode Health Monitor, which checks signals during each scheduled scan.
How do opt-in, opt-out and notice differ in the settings?
Each region rule offers three selectable consent models: opt-in, opt-out or notice. The model you select is tied to the visitor region identified at request time, along with that region's GPC setting.
Using an opt-in model in one region and a notice model in another is a configuration decision you make through regional rules. The same applies when selecting opt-out for US locations. These are selectable banner models, and the platform does not establish the legal rule for every jurisdiction. Those settings let you express a regional choice, but they cannot determine which legal model is required for your particular website.
The GPC setting is separate from the model selection. That distinction matters when documenting why two regions have different configurations even if both use the same model. You can inspect whether GPC was sent for a recorded visitor choice in the consent log, which stores that field with the region, country and applicable state or province.
How does regional targeting fit with the rest of the banner?
The region rule controls the consent model and its GPC handling for the visitor's location. Automatic blocking of known trackers before consent and support for all four Google Consent Mode v2 signals are available on every CookieConsentHQ plan.
Those capabilities have different jobs. Geo-targeting decides which configured regional model applies. The banner and blocking features handle known trackers before consent, while Consent Mode support sends the relevant Google consent signals. Regional rules should therefore be reviewed together with the banner behavior you intend to present, rather than treated as a substitute for checking what your site loads.
For a focused diagnostic, the free checker inspects one public page for cookies set before consent, hardcoded tracker tags and Consent Mode v2 defaults. It does not evaluate every page or determine whether a chosen regional preset is legally sufficient. If you need custom country, state or province rules, review the Starter plan before setting up those configurations.