AI use disclosure to clients: what agencies should tell them

The one-page note

1. Purpose, in two sentences: you use AI to work faster, and you protect the client's data and the quality of the work.
2. Approved tools: each tool, the plan, what you use it for, and whether the account trains on your data. Anything not listed isn't used on client work.
3. Client data: what never goes in (passwords, personal data of their customers, unreleased results, anything the contract restricts), what goes only into approved accounts, and what's fine anywhere.
4. Review: a person checks every deliverable; facts, numbers and quotes are checked against a source.
5. Disclosure: when you'll tell the client, or their audience, that AI was used.
6. Ownership: what you assign to the client, written with your lawyer.
7. Owner and review date: who keeps the note current and approves new tools, how fast you'll tell the client about a data problem, and when the note is next reviewed.

A worked example

Illustration: a made-up business. A 6-person content agency writes the note for a new retail client. In part:

The client's procurement team asks one question: whether drafts of their unreleased product launch can go into the tool. The note already answers it: product details, yes, in the approved account; launch dates and sales figures, no.

Before you send it

1. Read the client's contract for an AI clause; theirs wins over your note.
2. Check each tool's data terms on the vendor's page, for the plan you actually pay for.
3. Use business accounts for client data; personal plans may train on chats unless you turn it off.
4. Have a lawyer read the ownership and disclosure lines.
5. Review the note every six months, because tools and terms change.

A summary, not legal advice. Copyright rules differ by country; the Copyright Office's report covers the US.

Next step: deliver your method as skills

Once clients trust how you use AI, the next step is giving them your method to run themselves. Delivering your method to clients as AI skills covers that, and the AI usage policy template covers the rules inside your own team.

Questions

Should agencies tell clients they use AI?

Yes, before work starts and in writing. Say which tools and accounts you use and for what, what client data never goes in, that a person reviews everything before delivery, and when you'll say a piece was made with AI. Many client contracts now ask, so check yours first.

What should an AI disclosure to clients include?

Five things on one page: approved tools with their data settings, the client data that never goes in, who reviews the work, when AI use is disclosed, and what the client owns. Mark anything that depends on law or the contract for legal review.

Does the client own AI-generated work?

It depends on how much a person contributed. The US Copyright Office's January 2025 report says prompts alone don't make you the author of AI output, while human-authored parts and the creative selection and arrangement of material can be protected, case by case. Say in the contract what's assigned, and have a lawyer check it.