Does my chatbot have to say it is an AI?
Yes, since 2 August 2026. Anyone talking to an AI system must know it, at the latest at the first contact, unless it is obvious to an attentive visitor. The duty lies with the provider of the chatbot. If you use a vendor’s chat window, the vendor must have built it that way; you are the first to see it when it is missing.
- Chat window without an AI noticeArt. 50 AI Act
Art. 50 AI Act
Checked at the source on 27 September 2026.
Who it applies to
It applies to chatbots and other AI systems that talk directly to people. The duty to design them this way lies with the provider: whoever develops the system, or has it developed and puts it into service under their own name. A live chat staffed by your own employees is not covered.
- Just me
- Under a conditionIf there is an AI chat on your site.
- 2 to 9
- Under a conditionIf there is an AI chat on your site.
- 10 or more
- Under a conditionIf there is an AI chat on your site.
What the law asks
Art. 50(1) AI Act
Providers ensure that AI systems intended to interact directly with people are designed so that those people are informed that they are dealing with an AI system, unless that is obvious to a reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect person.
Art. 50(5) AI Act
That information is clear and distinguishable, and is given at the latest at the first interaction.
Art. 3(3) AI Act
A provider is whoever develops an AI system, or has it developed and puts it into service under their own name or trademark. If you have a chatbot built that appears under your name on your site, you may be the provider yourself.
Art. 113 AI Act
Article 50 has applied since 2 August 2026. The heavier requirements for high-risk systems come later; it is therefore not true that the whole AI Act already applies to everyone.
Check it yourself, in five minutes
- Open your site in a private window and look at the first thing the chat window says: does it say it is an AI or a virtual assistant?
- If the notice only appears after a few messages, or only in the vendor’s terms, it does not come at the latest at the first contact.
- Ask your vendor whether AI answers are switched on. Vendors sometimes switch them on in a window that has been there for years.
- If your own employees answer the chat, nothing needs to be added.
What our scan sees
- Whether there is a chat window on your pages. We recognise twenty vendors by their script, the rest by how the window looks.
- Whether that window carries a notice saying it is an AI.
What our scan does not see
- Whether a person or a model is behind the chat. That is why every finding is a question, not a verdict.
- What the window says after someone opens it. We do not open it, or your staff would get conversations nobody is having.
- Whether images or texts made by AI are marked (article 50(2) and (4)). We do not test that yet.
Who enforces it
The market surveillance authorities each EU country designates for the AI Act.
Questions
What if it is obviously a robot?
Then no notice is needed. But ‘obvious’ is measured against an observant, reasonably well-informed visitor, not against you. A window with a human name and a photo makes it less obvious rather than more.
My chat comes from a vendor. Do I have to do anything?
The duty to build it this way lies with the vendor as the provider. But the window is on your site, and your visitors will hold you to it. Ask your vendor whether the notice is there, and if not, when it will be.
Read it yourself
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act (opens in a new tab)
The full text; the disclosure duty is in article 50.
- European Commission on article 50 (opens in a new tab)
Questions and answers on the transparency obligations.
See where your site stands
The free scan measures this and the four other rules in one go, from a European address, without clicking anything.