Sponsored AI videos: how to label them on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram

Two things to disclose

A campaign video made with an AI creator has to tell viewers two things:

• it’s AI‑generated: the person or animal on screen was never filmed;
• it’s an ad: a brand is paying you to post it.

One doesn’t replace the other. An AI video with no brand involved only needs the first. A campaign video needs both, in the picture and in the platform’s settings.

This guide summarises public rules as of October 22, 2026. It isn’t legal advice: platforms change their menus and their rules, so always check the official pages linked here.

What the video already shows

Every video exported from Glimmry carries the label “AI‑GENERATED IMAGES”, burned into the top of the picture for its whole length. For a campaign video, it becomes “AD · AI‑GENERATED IMAGES”: “AD” flags the advertising.

Don’t crop it, don’t cover it with a sticker or text, and don’t edit it out: our terms of use forbid it, and a campaign video without its labels can lose its earnings. The burned-in label isn’t enough on its own, though: each platform has its own settings, which drive its official labels.

On TikTok

TikTok asks creators to label AI‑generated content that shows realistic images, audio or video. A Glimmry video falls into that category.

1. Upload your video, then open the extra options on the posting screen.
2. Switch on the “AI‑generated content” setting before you post.
3. For a campaign, also switch on the commercial content disclosure and mark it as branded content.

Source: TikTok, “About AI‑generated content”. TikTok states that this setting doesn’t affect the distribution of a video that follows its guidelines.

On YouTube Shorts

YouTube asks creators to disclose altered or synthetic content that looks realistic, such as a realistic scene that never happened. A Glimmry video qualifies, even though its character is fictional.

1. In YouTube Studio, open the video’s details.
2. Answer “Yes” to the altered content question.
3. For a campaign, tick the “Paid promotion” box: YouTube then shows viewers a disclosure.

Source: YouTube, “Disclosing use of altered or synthetic content”. YouTube may add a label itself if a realistic video wasn’t disclosed.

On Instagram

Meta asks you to add its AI label before posting photorealistic video or realistic audio created or altered with AI, and says there may be penalties if you don’t.

1. Before sharing your Reel, open the advanced settings and turn on the AI label.
2. For a campaign, add the “Paid partnership” label and tag the brand.
3. Also present your creator as a virtual character in the account’s bio.

Source: Instagram Help Center on AI‑generated content.

What the law says

In the United States

The FTC’s rules require you to disclose any paid relationship with a brand clearly and conspicuously. Since their 2023 revision, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides also cover virtual influencers.

In the European Union

Since August 2, 2026, Article 50 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act requires anyone who publishes a “deep fake” (AI‑generated images, audio or video that resemble real people, places or events and could pass as authentic) to clearly disclose that it was generated or manipulated by AI. A realistic AI creator easily fits that definition: the burned-in label and the platform’s AI label address it.

In France

If your audience is in France, law no. 2023-451 of June 9, 2023 on commercial influence, as amended in November 2024, requires a clear “Publicité” or “Collaboration commerciale” disclosure, and the label “Images virtuelles” when a face or body was produced by AI in commercial influence content. Add these French words to your caption.

The pre-posting checklist

• The campaign video was approved, and you’re posting exactly that version.
• The “AD · AI‑GENERATED IMAGES” label is visible, neither cropped nor covered.
• The platform’s AI setting is on.
• The paid partnership or branded content setting is on.
• The caption discloses the ad in its first words (and “Images virtuelles” for a French audience).
• The account’s bio presents your creator as a virtual character.
• Your creator presents the product: no “I tried it”, no promised results.

A question about a specific case? Email us from the Support page.