Do chatbot disclosure laws apply to your website chat?

Does a Las Vegas business have to tell customers its chat is a bot?

Not under Nevada law today. Nevada has no general chatbot disclosure law as of October 2026. But a website chat also talks to people in other states, and some of those states’ laws are written around where the customer is, not where the business is. Maine, California and Utah have rules in force now, and Colorado, Nebraska and Idaho add theirs in 2027.

This guide is for owners adding an AI chat assistant to their website. It’s a summary of what the laws say, not legal advice. Several states passed new chatbot laws in 2026, so check the current rules with a lawyer before you launch a chat, especially if you work in a licensed profession.

What do chatbot disclosure laws say, state by state?

Most chatbot disclosure laws ask for the same thing: don’t let a bot pass for a person, and say clearly that it’s AI. They differ on when you have to say it and which bots count.

State	Law	Starts	What it says, in short
Nevada	No general law. Nevada AB 406 covers AI in mental health care	AB 406: July 1, 2025	No rule for ordinary business chats. AI can’t be offered as professional mental or behavioral health care
Maine	Maine statute 10 M.R.S. §1500-DD	September 2025	A business can’t use a chatbot with consumers in a way that may lead a reasonable consumer to think it’s human, unless it clearly and conspicuously says it isn’t. A violation is a violation of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act
California	Business and Professions Code §17941	July 1, 2019	Unlawful to use a bot online with intent to mislead someone in California about its artificial identity, in order to encourage a sale or sway a vote. A clear, conspicuous statement that it’s a bot is a defense
Utah	Utah SB 226, now Utah Code 13-77	May 7, 2025	Say it’s generative AI when a customer clearly asks. Professions licensed in Utah must say so up front in high-risk chats, such as ones that collect health or financial details or give advice people may rely on for big decisions. Saying so at the start and throughout is a safe harbor
Colorado	Colorado HB 26-1263	January 1, 2027	Public chatbots must say they’re AI at the start of each day’s first chat, again every three hours in a long chat or with a label that stays in view, and when asked. Software built mainly for customer support, ordering or other transactions is excluded
Nebraska	Nebraska LB 525	July 1, 2027	If a reasonable person would think it’s human, a public chatbot must clearly say it’s AI. A bot a business uses solely for customer service is excluded

A few details the table leaves out:

• California’s 10 million visitors. California’s bot law mentions 10 million monthly U.S. visitors only to define an “online platform”, in a clause that puts no duty on web hosts and other service providers of those platforms (§17940, §17942). The rule itself applies to “any person” who uses a bot that way, with no size limit.
• California’s companion chatbot law (SB 243, from January 1, 2026) adds rules for chatbots that act as companions, and excludes a bot used only for customer service (§22601).
• Utah’s end date. SB 226 moved the repeal date of Utah’s wider Artificial Intelligence Policy Act to July 1, 2027, but set no end date for these disclosure rules. The disclosure chapter borrows two definitions from the Policy Act, so check it again after July 1, 2027.
• Colorado’s other AI law, Colorado SB 26-189, covers automated tools used in decisions about jobs, housing, loans, insurance, health care, education and government services, not ordinary website chat.
• Idaho passed a Conversational AI Safety Act in 2026 (Idaho S 1297) that starts July 1, 2027. Check its final text if you have customers there.

We read each law on its state legislature’s site, or on Justia and LegiScan, which copy the text, on October 10, 2026.

Does Nevada have a chatbot disclosure law?

No. As of October 2026, Nevada has no law that requires a business to tell customers its chat is AI.

The closest Nevada law is AB 406, in force since July 1, 2025. It bars offering an AI system as professional mental or behavioral health care, with civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation, and bars mental and behavioral health providers from using AI to give that care directly. Those providers can still use AI for scheduling, records and billing (Nevada AB 406 as enrolled). Two broader 2025 bills failed: SB 186, on AI in health care communications (Nevada SB 186 on LegiScan), and SB 199, on regulating AI companies (Nevada SB 199 on LegiScan).

The Nevada Legislature’s next regular session starts February 1, 2027 (Nevada Legislature sessions), so a Nevada rule could arrive after that.

Do other states’ chatbot laws apply to a Las Vegas business?

They can. Maine’s and California’s laws are written around where the customer is. Maine’s consumer protection law covers trade “directly or indirectly affecting the people of this State” (Maine statute 5 M.R.S. §206). California’s bot law covers using a bot “to communicate or interact with another person in California online”.

A Las Vegas business talks to a lot of Californians. Covering the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s 2025 visitor survey, CDC Gaming Reports said Las Vegas still relies on visitors from western states, led by California (CDC Gaming Reports, March 10, 2026). When your chat answers someone planning a trip from Los Angeles, it’s talking to a person in California.

Whether a state would enforce its law against a Nevada business is a question for your lawyer. The practical answer is to build the chat to the strictest rule, so it doesn’t matter where the customer is.

Is there a federal chatbot disclosure law?

No federal law requires a chatbot label as of October 2026, but the FTC Act’s ban on deceptive practices applies to AI like anything else. Announcing Operation AI Comply on September 25, 2024, the FTC’s then-chair, Lina M. Khan, said “there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books” (FTC press release). In guidance for businesses, the FTC warned that misleading consumers with fakes, such as fake dating profiles, deepfakes or chatbots, could result, and had resulted, in enforcement actions (Chatbots, deepfakes, and voice clones: AI deception for sale, FTC, March 20, 2023).

A December 11, 2025 executive order, EO 14365, directs the Attorney General to set up a task force to challenge some state AI laws, and calls for a proposal for one national standard (Federal Register). It doesn’t overturn any state law on its own, and the state chatbot laws in this guide remain on the books.

How should a business label its website chat?

Label the chat as AI in its first message and keep that label in view, answer honestly when someone asks, and make a person easy to reach. That covers what the strictest state chatbot laws ask for, and it’s the safest design wherever your customers come from.

• Say it in the first message, in plain words. For example: “Hi, I’m this site’s AI assistant, not a person. I can answer questions about hours and booking, or connect you with our team.”
• Keep a small “AI assistant” label in view for the whole chat. Utah’s safe harbor asks for disclosure at the start and throughout, and Colorado’s 2027 law accepts a label that stays visible.
• Answer “no” when someone asks if it’s a person. Utah requires an honest answer when a customer clearly asks, and Colorado will from 2027 for the chatbots its law covers.
• Offer a person from every message. A button that hands the chat to your staff, a phone number that taps to call, or a short form.
• Skip the human name and headshot. Call it something like “Booking assistant”, not “Jessica”, and show your logo or a simple icon, not a stock photo of a smiling employee. A human persona invites the confusion disclosure laws are about.
• Keep it out of licensed advice. Under Utah’s law, a chat run by a profession licensed in Utah that collects health or financial details, or gives advice people may rely on for big decisions, needs an up-front notice. In Nevada, AI can’t be offered as mental or behavioral health care. For practices, our guide to dental and medical websites in Las Vegas covers keeping health details out of website forms.
• Write down what it says. Keep the greeting, label and handoff wording on file, and check them when a law changes.

How does Well Coded build website chat assistants?

Well Coded Solutions builds website chat assistants as part of AI automation for small businesses. Every project starts with a free 30-minute call and a written plan, with a fixed quote before work starts. Each AI system’s plan sets out its job, the test cases it has to pass and its monthly running cost. A chat Well Coded builds says it’s AI, answers only from your business’s facts and hands off to a person in one tap.

We work with businesses in Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and North Las Vegas, and across the US. To talk through a chat for your site, tell us about your business and we’ll reply with a clear next step.