In Los Angeles, ChatGPT named 2 injury firms. Is yours one of them?

California does not make you file ads, but every ad needs a licensed lawyer or firm name and an office city or county, may not guarantee outcomes or promise quick money, must label dramatizations, and the copy must be kept one year.

Who enforces it

The State Bar of California (rules approved by the California Supreme Court; advertising statutes in the Business and Professions Code)

The rules

Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1 to 7.5 and Business and Professions Code sections 6157 to 6159.2 (amended by SB 37, effective Jan. 1, 2026)

Filing or review

No general filing requirement found in the official rules. No filing or pre-approval. Section 6159.1 requires the person who pays for an ad to keep a true copy for one year. Anyone can complain to the State Bar about an ad, and under section 6158.4 an advertiser who does not withdraw a flagged ad risks civil penalties of up to $5,000 per broadcast.

Required labels

Every ad must show the name of a California-licensed lawyer or the firm, plus the city, town or county of a bona fide office or the State Bar address of record (section 6157.2(b)). Dramatizations, actors playing clients, and spokespersons must be disclosed. A contingent-fee ad must say whether the client owes costs if there is no recovery. Immigration ads need a statement that the lawyer is an active California licensee (section 6157.5). A solicitation to someone known to need legal help must include the word "Advertisement" (Rule 7.3).

Testimonials, results, specialist

Section 6157.2 bans any guarantee or warranty of outcome, "quick cash" claims, and misleading statements about skills, experience or record. Awards may be cited only if not based on membership and the awarder does not charge a fee. In electronic media, ads about results presented without context, injury depictions and references to money recovered are presumed misleading, and a result ad must explain the facts or say results depend on the facts of each case (sections 6158.1 and 6158.3). Rule 7.1 comments say testimonials and achievements can mislead if they suggest the same result for others.

Online ads

The statute defines "advertisement" to cover any written, recorded or electronic communication, including to a limited group, and "electronic medium" to include computer networks. In electronic media the message as a whole must be factually substantiated (section 6158). Rule 7.3 comment says banner ads, websites and search-triggered messages are not solicitation. New in 2026: a joint advertiser on a platform with space limits can link to a landing page carrying the required disclosures (section 6157.2(b)(3)). No AI-specific rule found in the text read.

ChatGPT Ads

OpenAI accepts US law-firm ads from firms licensed where the ad runs, after business verification and ad review. A ChatGPT ad aimed at California needs your California license, and it is still lawyer advertising under the rules above.

Sources: calbar.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Parts of this summary were read from a published copy of the rules because the official site could not be reached; check the official text before relying on it.

More on how the rules work across states: law firm advertising rules and can lawyers advertise on ChatGPT.