AI UGC and AI avatars in ads: when to use them, and when not

AI avatars are allowed in ads, but since 2 August 2026 a realistic avatar needs a visible label. An AI "customer" who shares an experience remains a made-up testimonial, even with a label. What does work: a labelled avatar that explains on behalf of your brand, or a real creator with AI for the variants.

AI UGC is a video in the style of a customer review, but without a customer: an AI avatar with an AI voice reads out your script. In the studio we do AI video production and mix AI with real footage where that is stronger ^[1].

When can an AI avatar appear in your ad, and when not?

A realistic avatar gets a label

For the European Commission, a realistic AI avatar is a person within the meaning of the AI Act, even if the character doesn't exist ^[2]. If the audience could take it for real, your ad is a deepfake. The Commission gives two examples: an AI video of a well-known influencer in an advertising context, and a realistic avatar of a CEO ^[2].

You can't count on the lighter rule for creative work. The Commission explicitly cites a realistic synthetic influencer testing a sponsored product as an example that doesn't qualify ^[2]. A cartoon mascot or a talking animal, on the other hand, needs no label ^[2][4].

For online video, the Raad voor Reclame, the Belgian advertising council, proposes a label that is immediately visible and stays on screen for at least five seconds. As text, it suggests "AI gegenereerde persoon" in Dutch and « Personnage généré par l'IA » in French ^[4]. Put it in the video itself, so that it travels with the ad to every platform. Who labels, and how TikTok and Meta label themselves, is covered in Does your video ad need an AI label?

An AI customer is a made-up testimonial

An avatar has never used your product. If you have it say "I've been using this for three weeks now and my back doesn't hurt any more", that experience is made up, and a label doesn't fix that.

The Belgian Code of Economic Law counts falsely presenting yourself as a consumer and posting false consumer recommendations among the practices that are unfair in all circumstances (Art. VI.100, 22° and 26°) ^[5]. Those points come from the European directive on unfair commercial practices ^[7]. An avatar posing as a satisfied customer risks that blacklist, and is misleading in any case (Art. VI.97) ^[5].

The Belgian Advertising Code only allows testimonials that are genuine, verifiable and relevant ^[3]. What does work:

• Have the avatar speak on behalf of the brand. "This is how our product works" is an explanation; "I was sceptical at first" is a testimonial.
• Show real reviews as real reviews, with the source and the name or initials, with permission.
• If you want a customer on screen, ask a real customer, or a creator who actually used the product.

If a virtual influencer posts from its own account, the Advertising Code treats it as an influencer. It then needs a tag such as "reclame" or "publiciteit" (Dutch for advertising), the brand name and the platform's disclosure option ^[3], because advertising must always be recognisable as such ^[8].

A real person requires consent first

An avatar of your managing director or of a creator is technically the easiest option, but legally the heaviest.

• Prior consent, preferably on paper. The Advertising Code requires prior consent before you imitate the likeness or voice of a recognisable person with AI ^[3], and portrait rights prohibit showing a portrait without consent ^[5]. The Raad voor Reclame wants agreements on scope, duration, withdrawal and compensation ^[4].
• A label even with consent, plus the data protection rules if the person is identifiable ^[2].
• The tools require it too. HeyGen prohibits avatars of real people without their explicit consent ^[9]. ElevenLabs prohibits imitating a voice without consent ^[10], while cloning is available from $6 a month ^[11].
• No lookalikes. TikTok prohibits the likeness of a public figure without consent ^[6].

With a stock avatar, the tool maker in principle handles the actor's consent; TikTok says its own avatars are based on paid actors licensed for commercial use ^[12]. Do read the licence, though: does it cover paid ads, and what happens when your subscription ends? The rights to image, voice and music are covered in can you use AI images and AI music commercially?

Does AI UGC work?

Independent evidence is lacking. HeyGen writes that UGC videos convert three to five times better than polished brand ads ^[13], and Creatify reports 2.7 times more leads than static image ads ^[14]. Neither gives a method, period or sample.

The most useful research is about AI ads in general. In an IAB survey of 505 American consumers aged 16 to 43, 45% felt positive about AI ads. Of the professionals surveyed, 82% thought those consumers did ^[15].

Still, 73% of consumers said that knowing an ad was made with AI increases their likelihood to buy or changes nothing ^[15]. So test it yourself: the same script and the same hook, once with a labelled avatar and once with a real creator, judged on cost per result.

Be extra careful with health, body image, finance and children; there, the Raad voor Reclame calls for stricter checks ^[4].

The alternative: a real creator, with AI for the variants

UGC works because there is a real human in front of you. You don't need to replace that; AI helps with everything around it:

• More hooks on the same recording. The creator films the core, and AI makes extra opening shots from your product images. How to build them is covered in hooks for video ads.
• Product shots as cutaways, without the creator filming the product again.
• A second language? If you use AI to make the creator speak French, that is a cloned voice of a real person: consent and a label ^[4][3].

On TikTok, a creator's post can run as a Spark Ad with their permission. How that works is covered by Jonas in TikTok advertising in Belgium.

Want to see first what AI does for your own product, without an avatar? Send your statics for a free test ad: one video ad on your own brand, at no cost or obligation.

This article is not legal advice. The Commission's guidelines are not binding and are a first interpretation that it will revise ^[2].