Popular AI chatbots are steering players to unlicensed gambling platforms and past licensed operators, Ben Head, chief operating officer at BetGoodwin, has warned.
A Dutch study published in October 2026 tested 10 AI assistants. Every one named at least one unlicensed operator, and some presented illegal brands as licensed. A UK investigation in March found chatbots recommending offshore sites that sit outside the GamStop self-exclusion scheme.
That matters because AI platforms flatten the difference between licensed and unlicensed market participants. The black market gets free distribution that licensed companies cannot buy. Illegal sites advertise the absence of identity checks and fast payouts as selling points, though those measures exist to protect customers. Licensed operators pay for affordability checks and GamStop integration while competing with outfits that skip both.
Head says AI platforms should check brands against regulator registers before recommending them. Search engines and social media already do it. Operators, for their part, should track how AI tools describe their brands and report illegal ones to regulators. One bad experience on an unlicensed site damages trust in the whole online gambling industry, and the risks run to leaked financial data, fraud and malware.
