Guide · For small business owners

Thinking about AI calling your customers? Know the rules first

October 13, 20266 min read

Is it legal to use AI to call or text customers? Consent, calling hours, opt-outs and AI disclosure in the US and Canada, in plain English.

You've seen the demos. An AI that calls back every missed lead within a minute. Reminds every patient about tomorrow's cleaning. Follows up on every quote you sent last week. It sounds like the end of a to-do list you never get through.

Now imagine the call from your customer's side. Their phone buzzes with a number they don't know. A friendly voice says their name, then starts talking about a "special offer." Halfway through, they realize it isn't a person. Did they ever agree to this?

That question is what the rules are about. AI calls aren't banned. But in the US and Canada, an AI voice calling a customer is treated like a robocall, and robocalls come with rules. Here's what to know before you switch one on.

This is general information, not legal advice. Before you start outbound AI calls or texts, talk to an attorney about your plans.

The short answer

In the US: the FCC has confirmed that a call made with an AI-generated voice counts as an "artificial or prerecorded voice" call under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). So the robocall rules apply: you generally need your customer's consent before the AI calls, and for sales or marketing calls, that consent has to be in writing. Texts count as calls under the TCPA too.

In Canada: calls that play a "pre-recorded or synthesized voice" fall under the CRTC's rules for automatic dialing-announcing devices. Sales calls of that kind need the customer's express consent, and commercial texts need consent under Canada's anti-spam law (CASL).

What "consent" means

The rules split calls into two kinds, and the kind decides what consent you need.

Calls about something the customer asked for: a callback about their repair request, an appointment reminder, a "your part came in" call. For these, US rules require the customer's prior express consent. For example, a customer who asks you to call them back about their request has given you consent for that call. It doesn't cover unrelated sales calls later.
Sales and marketing calls: a seasonal offer, "it's time for your tune-up," a new service. These need prior express written consent: a signed agreement (an online form with an e-signature counts) that names the phone number it covers. You can't make agreeing to it a condition of buying from you.

Being a past customer isn't the same as consent. Someone who bought from you in the last 18 months may be exempt from the Do Not Call list for calls from your staff. That exemption doesn't replace the consent needed for an AI voice to call them.

Rules on every AI call in the US

Say who's calling, at the start. The message has to name your business at the beginning and give a phone number.
Make it easy to stop. On sales calls, the caller must offer an automated way to opt out, by voice or keypress, within two seconds of saying who's calling. Customers can withdraw consent any reasonable way, including just saying "stop calling me" to the AI. Their request has to be honored within 10 business days.
Call at reasonable hours. Federal rules ban sales calls before 8 AM or after 9 PM in the customer's local time. Some states are stricter. Florida, for example, limits unsolicited sales calls, including automated ones, to 8 AM–8 PM and to three calls in 24 hours about the same subject.
Respect Do Not Call. Sales calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry are off-limits unless an exemption applies.
Say it's an AI. No federal rule requires this on every call yet; the FCC proposed one in 2024. Some states already do. Maine requires it when a customer could reasonably think they're talking to a person. Utah requires it if a customer clearly asks, and up front for licensed professionals (like healthcare providers) in certain high-risk conversations. The simplest approach is to say it in the first sentence, every time.

Rules in Canada

Express consent for sales calls that use a pre-recorded or synthesized voice.
Calling hours: weekdays 9 AM–9:30 PM, weekends 10 AM–6 PM, in the customer's local time. Your province may set stricter hours.
Say who's calling and why at the start, and give a local or toll-free number where someone can be reached.
Do Not Call: businesses that telemarket, or hire someone to, must register with the National Do Not Call List and keep their own internal do-not-call list, adding requests within 14 days.
Texts: a commercial text needs the customer's consent, has to identify your business and must include a way to unsubscribe.

What your customer needs from an AI call

The rules boil down to what any customer would ask for anyway:

They agreed to hear from you, for this kind of call.
They know who's calling and why, in the first few seconds.
They know it's an AI. Finding out halfway through feels like a trick.
It's a reasonable hour.
They can stop it easily, and it actually stops.

If your plan for AI calls passes those five, you're starting from the right place. Then check the details with your attorney.

The easier place to start: calls that come to you

Before AI calls anyone, look at the calls already coming in. When a customer calls your business, they're the one placing the call, so the outbound consent rules above don't apply to an AI that answers it. (If the AI later calls or texts them back, that's an outbound call, and the rules above apply.) Two rules still do:

Tell callers if the call is recorded. Some states, Florida among them, require everyone on the call to agree. Our guide on recording business calls explains how.
Say it's an AI. It's honest, and in some states it's required.

For a lot of small businesses, the easiest leads to win back aren't the ones nobody called. They're the calls nobody answered.

Before any AI call or text goes out

Consent on file for each number, written consent for anything sales-related
The AI says your business name, why it's calling, and that it's an AI, at the start
A phone number given on the call
An easy opt-out, and opt-outs honored within 10 business days
Calls only within the allowed hours, in the customer's time zone
Do Not Call lists checked for sales calls
Your attorney has reviewed the plan

Flogenta sets up AI assistants that answer the calls your customers make to you. Flo says up front that she's an AI, and she doesn't make sales calls or send marketing texts. See how she answers at flogenta.com. Questions? hello@flogenta.com

Sources

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