Pre-upload transparency review

YouTube AI content disclosure checklist

Review realistic generated or altered material before upload, keep the relevant facts visible, and check YouTube's current AI use guidance in Studio.

Review the upload Open upload checklist

This free browser checklist does not connect to YouTube, submit a disclosure, inspect content, or decide rights, policies, or legal obligations.

Browser-only upload review

Check the realistic and altered material before upload

Select the situations that apply to the actual video. The result maps your review to YouTube's published examples, but it never decides the Studio setting for you.

Situations YouTube lists as requiring disclosure

Select every situation that applies. These are published examples, not a complete list.

It makes a real person appear to say or do something they did not say or do.It alters footage of a real event or place.It shows a realistic scene that did not actually occur.It includes AI-generated music.

Context that still needs a careful check

These selections are context, not an exemption or a decision about the upload.

The AI use was limited to minor production assistance or repair, such as a script, thumbnail, captions, color, sharpening, upscaling, or audio repair.The AI material is clearly non-realistic, animated, or fantastical rather than a realistic depiction.I am unsure whether the result is realistic or meaningfully alters what a viewer would think happened.

A careful upload decision

Keep the source material and the final video in the same review

AI may touch the idea, the edit, the sound, or the final image. A useful disclosure review records what the viewer could mistake for a real person, event, place, scene, or music before the upload setting is chosen.

01
List the generated or altered material
Review the actual visual, audio, person, event, place, and scene changes in the finished upload rather than relying on the prompt alone.
02
Compare the realistic-use examples
Use YouTube's current examples to identify material that could make a real person, real event, real place, or realistic scene appear different from reality.
03
Review the AI use setting during upload
Keep the official guidance open in YouTube Studio and make the disclosure choice there. This checklist cannot make that choice for you.

Scope matters

AI use does not automatically answer the disclosure question

YouTube's guidance distinguishes realistic, meaningful alterations from minor production help and clearly non-realistic material. The practical question is what the finished upload shows or sounds like to a viewer, not whether any AI appeared somewhere in the workflow.

The examples cover common cases, not every case. Keep the current documentation open during upload and do not use a browser checklist as proof that a disclosure, permission, or policy review is unnecessary.

An altered-content disclosure is separate from consent, copyright, privacy, likeness, safety, and monetization reviews.

Continue the production review

Move from disclosure context to a complete upload check

Review the generated clip

Use the browser AI video workspace for a generated clip, review the current quote, and inspect the result before adding it to a final edit.

Explore AI video generation

Finish the upload review

Check final-file details, rights, upload settings, visibility, and timing before the video or Short goes live.

Open the upload checklist

Plan a character Short

Create a character-led 9:16 scene, then review the generated result, disclosure context, and final edit before publishing.

Explore character Shorts

Questions

Using the checklist

Does this checklist tell me whether I must disclose AI use on YouTube?

No. It organizes a pre-upload review around YouTube's current examples. YouTube's guidance is not exhaustive, so check the current AI use setting and official documentation in Studio before publishing.

What examples does YouTube list as requiring disclosure?

YouTube lists realistic AI content that makes a real person appear to say or do something they did not do, alters footage of a real event or place, or generates a realistic scene that did not occur. Its examples also include AI-generated music.

Do scripts, captions, thumbnails, upscaling, or repair always need a disclosure?

YouTube lists production assistance such as scripts, thumbnails, captions, video sharpening, upscaling, repair, and some audio work as examples that generally do not need disclosure. The list is not exhaustive, so review the actual upload against the current guidance.

Does an AI disclosure settle rights or permission questions?

No. A disclosure does not decide consent, copyright, privacy, likeness, or other policy questions. Review those obligations separately before publishing.

Does this checklist connect to YouTube or save my selections?

No. This browser-only checklist does not connect to YouTube, submit the AI use setting, save selections, inspect a video, or determine whether content is eligible to publish or earn money.

Official sources

Verify the current upload guidance

YouTube's labels and examples can change. Check the current documentation while uploading, especially when a realistic person, event, place, scene, or audio could mislead a viewer.

YouTube Help: Disclosing use of GenAI contentThe current disclosure requirement, examples, upload setting, labels, and the reminder that the examples are not exhaustive.YouTube Help: How this content was madeHow manual disclosures, YouTube tools, and valid Content Credentials can appear in the expanded video description or player.YouTube Help: Likeness claimsWhy an altered-content disclosure does not grant permission to use another person's likeness.