# Pre-defined Peer Group

## Introduction

GRESB assigns each participant to a pre-defined peer group to contextualize their assessment results. 

Peer groups do not directly influence the GRESB Score, Star Rating, or points achieved; however, they help put the GRESB Score into perspective relative to similar peers. Every reporting entity can see the characteristics of its pre-defined peer group within its Benchmark Report.

This page outlines how GRESB determines each entity’s pre-defined peer group.

## Pre-Defined Peer Group Formation

GRESB determines an entity’s peer group using a simple, consistent set of quantitative rules. The table below illustrates the peer group creation process.

Each row in the table represents one ‘trial.’ The trial checks whether enough GRESB participants possess that row’s combination of characteristics.

GRESB will only create the entity’s peer group once GRESB will only create the entity’s peer group once six entities (the participant + five peers) match that combination.

{% hint style="info" %}
GRESB carries out this trial-and-error process individually for every reporting entity, meaning each entity’s peer group is uniquely its own. For example, just because Entity A has Entity B in its pre-defined peer group, Entity B might not have Entity A in its peer group. The groups are not ‘closed circles’ of entities.
{% endhint %}

GRESB considers each entity’s primary location in forming its peer group. The peer group allocation methodology moves from most to least specific when testing combinations of characteristics.<br>

For location, these are (in order of sequence/specificity): country, subregion, region, and\
super-region.

* The country, subregion, and region are defined using the UN country classification\
  guidelines available here. The only super-regions used are Asia Pacific, grouped\
  from Asia (code 142 in the UN classification) and Oceania (code 142 in the UN\
  classification).

{% hint style="info" %}
See the [**Asset & Portfolio Classification** ](/lender/completing-the-assessment/supporting-information/asset-and-portfolio-classification.md)page in *Completing GRESB Assessments* to learn more about GRESB's classification thresholds.
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://guides.gresb.com/lender/leveraging-your-data/benchmark-report/pre-defined-peer-group.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.