In a recent blog post, we addressed the important topic of having an AI clause in your client contracts, but that’s not the only area where you might need to include AI clauses for your business.
You see, your client contracts protect the work you do with clients, but your website's Terms of Use (also known as Website Terms and Conditions) protects the content you put out into the world. And now more than ever, that content is being crawled, scraped, and fed into AI tools whether you've said anything about it or not.
So the question isn’t just "do I need AI language somewhere," it's "does my website's Terms of Use actually say anything about AI at all?"
And the honest answer for most business owners is no… which is not ideal! So in this blog post, we want to help you fix just that!
Do You Need an AI Clause in Your Website's Terms of Use?
There is no law that requires an AI clause in your website's Terms of Use, but including one is strongly recommended for most online businesses. An AI clause is the section of your Website Terms and Conditions that states your position on how AI bots and tools can interact with your site, whether your content can be used to train AI models, and how you use AI on your own site. Without one, you have no written position to point to if your content is scraped or repurposed by a tool you never agreed to.
What is an AI Clause in Website Terms of Use?
As mentioned above, we covered what an AI clause is in client contracts in this blog post, but to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s start with what an AI clause is for your Website Terms of Use specifically.
Put simply, an AI clause in your Website Terms of Use is language that sets the rules for how AI can (or can't) interact with your website and its content.
It's the website equivalent of the AI clause in your contracts – same idea, just different territory.
Depending on your business, this section might address:
- Whether AI bots and crawlers are permitted to scrape your site's content
- Whether your content can be used to train AI models
- How you use AI on your own site (think chatbots, AI-generated content, or AI-powered recommendations) and what you disclose about that
- What happens to content your users or clients submit through your site, and whether it could end up feeding an AI tool
One of the biggest differences with this clause and other language that you use in your Terms of Use is that it’s not static and that’s because the tools and norms around AI are shifting constantly.
That means an AI clause you wrote a year ago might already be outdated, so this is one section of your legal pages you'll likely need to revisit more than once and more frequently than others – not because you did it wrong, but because the AI landscape keeps moving.
Are Business Owners Required to Use an AI Clause in Their Website’s Terms of Use?
Similar to using AI clauses in your client contracts, business owners aren’t technically required to use an AI clause in their Website Terms of Use… but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter or should be ignored.
While there's no law currently mandating that your Terms of Use include AI-specific language, the absence of a legal requirement doesn't mean there's an absence of risk – it just means the decision is currently in your hands instead of a regulator's.
One of the biggest decisions you'll actually have to make here is whether to allow or not allow AI bots to crawl your site. And like most things in business, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
➡️ If you DO allow AI to crawl your site, it could mean more visibility in AI-powered search and answer tools, which is where more people are starting to look for information and services.
➡️ If you DON’T allow AI to crawl your site, it can mean more protection over your original content, courses, frameworks, or proprietary language, especially if that content is a core part of what you sell.
Allowing vs. Blocking AI Crawlers: What to Weigh
| Approach | Potential Upside | Potential Downside |
|---|---|---|
| Allow AI to crawl your site | More visibility in AI-powered search and answer tools, where more people are starting to look for information and services. | Less control over how your original content, frameworks, or proprietary language shows up in AI outputs. |
| Block AI from crawling your site | More protection over original content, courses, frameworks, and proprietary language, especially if that content is core to what you sell. | Reduced visibility in AI search and answer tools, which may matter as AI-driven discovery grows. |
| Say nothing at all | None. There is no upside to silence. | No stated position to reference if content is scraped, repurposed, or fed into a tool you never agreed to. |
Your Terms of Use isn't the only tool for this (robots.txt files and meta tags play a role too), but it's the piece that actually states your position in writing, which matters if you ever need to point to it.
Overall, the right call depends on your business model, what kind of content you're putting out, and what you're trying to protect versus promote. But making no decision is still a decision and it's the riskiest one.
What Happens If You Don’t Use an AI Clause In Your Website Terms of Use
So, while you aren’t technically required to have an AI clause in your Website Terms of Use, the thing about ambiguity is that it doesn't protect you – it just means you never said anything.
If your Terms of Use is silent on AI, it ultimately means that you don't have a stated position to point back to if your content gets scraped, repurposed, or fed into a tool you never agreed to.
Because well… you can't enforce a boundary you never actually drew.
That’s why as a lawyer for online business owners and service providers, I recommend that you always include an AI clause in your Website Terms of Use, because better safe than sorry, right?!
FAQs About AI Clauses in Website Terms of Use
Do I legally have to include an AI clause in my website's Terms of Use?
There’s currently no law requiring business owners to include an AI clause in their Website Terms of Use. But skipping it means you have no stated position if AI ends up interacting with your content in a way you didn't intend.
Should I allow or not allow AI from crawling my website?
I can’t answer this for you because it really does depend on your business! Allowing it can boost visibility in AI-powered search and answer tools, while not allowing it can better protect original content, frameworks, or proprietary language.
Does an AI clause replace robots.txt or meta tag settings?
No! Those are technical tools that control crawler access. Your Terms of Use is simply the legal language stating your position. They work best together, not as substitutes for one another.
Do I need an AI clause if I use AI tools on my own site, like a chatbot?
Absolutely! Using AI on your site (such as, chatbots, AI-generated content, AI recommendations, etc.) is a separate consideration from third-party crawling, and it's worth disclosing to your site visitors.
How often should I update my AI clause in my Terms of Use?
A Terms of Use AI clause needs to be updated more often than you'd update most Terms of Use language and that’s because AI tools, norms, and best practices are changing quickly, so this section should be revisited periodically rather than set once and forgotten.
Website Terms of Use Contract Template (That Include AI Clauses)
If you’re reading this and realizing that your current Website Terms of Use is missing an AI clause and you know it’s a risk you aren’t willing to take, the good news is that it’s an easy fix!
This is exactly why we build AI language directly into our Website Terms of Use contract template, so that you can trust that everythingggg is covered without having to figure out how to draft it all by yourself.
TBL Contract Templates are built to reflect how the internet actually works right now, which means they already account for:
- AI crawling and scraping permissions
- Language around AI training data use
- Disclosures for AI tools used on your own site
- Terms that are structured to be revisited as AI norms continue to evolve
At the end of the day, we believe that you shouldn't have to become an AI policy expert just to protect your website – we do that part for you!
CLICK HERE to grab your Website Terms of Use contract template and while you’re at it, browse the TBL contract template shop to find more contract templates that best suit your business and know that your AI use, your client boundaries, and your intellectual property are all accounted for.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR, AMBER GILORMO – ATTORNEY AND FOUNDER OF THE BOUTIQUE LAWYER
Amber Gilormo is the cool lawyer behind The Boutique Lawyer – a one-stop contract template shop for creative entrepreneurs, online business owners, coaches, and service providers.
From client agreements to digital product terms and everything in between, our lawyer-drafted templates take the guesswork out of staying legally protected online (no legal jargon required).
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