Scaling your system · Creator resources
How Do You Disclose Affiliate Links in Creator Content?
If a recommendation can earn you a commission, viewers should be able to understand that relationship when they encounter it. A hidden note is not a substitute for clarity.
Say what the commercial relationship is
An affiliate link can pay the creator when someone clicks or buys. If a recommendation may benefit you, explain that relationship in words a viewer understands, such as that you may earn a commission from a link. A vague thank-you, code or unexplained label may not tell a person what is happening. Be clear even if the recommendation is sincere: honesty about the relationship helps the viewer weigh it.
Different arrangements are not identical. A paid sponsorship, free product, affiliate commission and the creator's own product can trigger different platform or legal considerations. Identify which relationship exists before writing a disclosure. Do not use a generic sentence to cover relationships you have not checked.
Put the explanation where people encounter the claim
A viewer should not need to search an unrelated page to understand the recommendation. Consider the spoken segment, on-screen text and nearby description or link text for the format you are publishing. On a short video or live stream, people may never open a full description; on a long video, they may arrive partway through. Make the disclosure legible and connected to the relevant recommendation rather than buried after unrelated links.
Check the result on a phone and after any crop, caption overlay or destination adaptation. Keep the wording ordinary and visible. UK ASA guidance and US FTC guidance both address clear disclosure but have different legal scope; neither supplies a single worldwide placement rule. Check the regulator for the applicable market instead of copying one creator's boilerplate.
Use the platform control when it applies
YouTube describes a paid-promotion declaration for content that falls within its branded-content policy and gives separate affiliate-program guidance. Check the current controls for the specific arrangement and upload format. A platform label can help viewers, but it may not satisfy every applicable audience-facing legal requirement. Conversely, a description note is not a substitute for a platform declaration when one is required by that platform.
Do not treat a link as permission to make unsupported product claims. Verify what you can honestly say from use or reliable evidence, and identify sponsor-provided claims you cannot independently support. The sponsorship-brief guide owns wider deal terms, revisions and deliverables; this page owns whether viewers can recognise the affiliate relationship.
Check again when the content changes
Before publishing, ask someone unfamiliar with the deal whether they can see and understand the disclosure at the point of recommendation. Check every intended channel and version, including a Short, description, pinned note or adapted post where relevant. Record which links are affiliate links so an editor or collaborator does not remove the explanation during a revision.
When a campaign ends, a link changes, or an older video is reused, check whether the disclosure still describes the current relationship. Rules, interfaces and agreements change. This guide gives a practical transparency test, not legal advice; get current local guidance for a real campaign and do not publish an uncertain claim as a universal rule.
Sources and limits
Disclosure duties differ by jurisdiction, content and commercial relationship. These regulator and platform sources support the limited examples here; this is not legal advice or a universal disclosure template.