Website Image Best Practices: Licensing, AI, SEO & Speed
June 17, 2026
AI-generated images are becoming part of everyday marketing. Businesses are using them in website graphics, blog posts, email newsletters, social media campaigns, ads, lead magnets, and sales materials.
At the same time, AI disclosure laws are beginning to catch up.
For business owners, this does not mean every AI-created graphic needs a legal warning label. But it does mean businesses should understand where the rules are headed and start using AI-generated images in ways that protect trust.
Two laws worth watching are New York’s synthetic performer advertising disclosure law and California’s AI Transparency Act.
New York’s law applies to advertisements that use a synthetic performer. In plain language, that means an AI-generated or AI-altered person used in advertising.
New York's Law
The New York law is creating a new level of transparency. The law in New York requires businesses to disclose if they are using “synthetic performers” in their advertisements. This includes any AI-generated or AI-altered persons in advertising, with penalties ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 per violation.
What does this mean for you as a business owner?
The takeaway is not that every AI-generated graphic or illustration needs to be labeled, but rather that the advertising ecosystem is changing. So as business owners, we get the opportunity to learn how to navigate this new landscape with the chance for a new level of transparency with our clients.
California’s law
California's AI Transparency Act primarily targets large generative AI providers; however, its effects cascade to other companies as well.
California's Transparency law covers three different aspects
- Generative AI providers must provide free AI detection software (regardless of what type of media is being produced)
- Generative AI providers must include a manifest disclosure (in plain English, a watermark or notice indicating that the content is AI-generated).
- Generative AI providers must include a latent discloser ( this is embedded metadata or provenance information that identifies details of the name of the AI provider, the AI system name, and the version of the software)
- The California law states that this metadata must be detectable by the provider's AI detection tool, consented to, and in line with industry standards.
- The law also states that this data should be difficult to remove but not impossible to remove.
California's AI transparency law AB 853 is set to go into effect Aug 2, 2026 adding future provenance related rules for certain large online platforms beginning in early 2027
So what can you do?
With these new laws, if you have any generated content on your website, it is a good rule of thumb to label it as such.
Disclose AI images when they could reasonably be mistaken for real people, real customers, real employees, real products, real project results, real events, or real testimonials.
Simple disclosures can be clear without being distracting:
Image created with the assistance of AI.
This image includes AI-generated visual elements.
Concept image generated with AI for illustrative purposes.
How JamboJon Can Be a Resource
At JamboJon, we have a wide variety of digital tools that are ready to be integrate into your business. We can help streamline your business with real-world strategy, and everything from precise keyword research to transformative AI tools. Jambojon can be an amazing resource to bring your business to the next level.
For business owners, the goal is not to avoid AI but to use it responsibly.
It can be as simple as redefining your ai policy and making sure your AI-generated content is clearly labeled and marked when appropriate. AI disclosure is not only a legal conversation but a conversation of trust. In this new Wild West, we have the chance to achieve a new level of transparency with our clients that we haven't seen before.
As more states begin to define how AI-generated content should be labeled, businesses that build transparent practices now will be better prepared for future rules and better positioned to earn customer confidence.
