If you use AI anywhere in your business — hiring, customer service, pricing, marketing — here's a practical checklist to work through this quarter, rather than waiting for a single moment when you feel "ready" to think about compliance.
1. Inventory Every AI Tool Actually in Use
Start with a simple list: every chatbot, hiring platform, pricing tool, and marketing automation system that uses AI, across your whole business. Most owners are surprised by how many tools qualify once they actually look, since AI features get quietly added to software you've used for years.
2. Identify Which State Laws Apply
Check which states' laws could apply based on where your customers and employees are located — not just where your business is headquartered. Several laws, including New York City's hiring rule, apply based on the location of the person affected by the tool, not your company's address.
3. Add AI Disclosure Language to Hiring Processes
If you use any AI-assisted screening, interview analysis, or candidate ranking, disclose it clearly to applicants before it's used, and confirm what state-specific consent or notice requirements apply to the specific tool and location.
4. Review Vendor Contracts for Compliance Warranties
Check whether your AI vendors' contracts include any warranty about legal compliance, bias testing, or audit availability. A vendor's compliance claims don't transfer legal responsibility to them, but knowing what they've actually committed to helps you understand your own exposure.
5. Document Decision Logic Where AI Affects Hiring, Credit, or Pricing
Keep a basic record of what factors an AI tool weighs in any consequential decision. If a decision is ever challenged, being able to explain the general logic — even without disclosing proprietary vendor detail — puts you in a far stronger position than having no record at all.
6. Train Staff on Disclosure Requirements
Anyone customer-facing or involved in hiring should know when and how your business is required to disclose AI use, so a well-meaning employee doesn't accidentally create a compliance gap by skipping a disclosure step nobody told them about.
7. Set a Quarterly Review Cadence
State AI law changed at a pace of roughly one new law every few weeks throughout 2026. A quarterly check-in on which tools you use and which laws apply is realistic; assuming a one-time compliance pass will stay current is not.
8. Separate EU-Facing Operations Where Applicable
If any part of your business serves EU customers, the EU AI Act's Article 50 disclosure requirement applies regardless of your company's location, with enforcement underway since August 2026 — treat this as a genuinely separate compliance track from US state law, not a variation of it.
9. Keep an Audit Trail
Save dated records of your compliance decisions — when you added a disclosure, when you reviewed a vendor contract, when you last checked applicable state laws. An audit trail showing genuine, ongoing effort is meaningfully different from having nothing to show if a regulator or a rejected candidate ever asks.
10. Don't Wait for Federal Law
There is no comprehensive federal AI law in the US, and there may not be one soon. State law is already in force, already being enforced, and already creates real obligations — waiting for federal clarity before addressing state requirements is not a defensible compliance strategy.
Where to Go From Here
AI Compliance for Small Business walks through each of these ten items in full detail for the US market, and the EU Edition covers the same ground for the EU AI Act — together they cover both compliance tracks if your business touches both markets.
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This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. State and federal AI law is changing rapidly — confirm current requirements for your specific jurisdiction with a qualified attorney.