AI Betting Advice Can Make Unlicensed Casinos Look Legal

If an AI assistant names a casino, that is not the same as a green light from a regulator. A Dutch study reported by iGaming Business found all 10 tested chat and search tools named at least one operator without a Dutch gambling licence, while three presented unlicensed operators in ways that implied legality or licensing.

That is a serious trust problem for anyone using AI to research betting options, including esports fans. A confident answer can look like a vetted recommendation, but in this case the systems sometimes served up offshore operators as if they belonged in the regulated pool.

Ten assistants, three very different prompts

Researchers at XY Legal Solutions carried out the study between August and September 2026, testing Dutch-language consumer questions across 10 tools: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Anthropic Claude, xAI Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral Le Chat and Meta AI. They checked whether named operators held a Dutch online gambling licence registered with the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) as of 1 September 2026.

The prompts covered neutral browsing, explicit requests to find a casino without Cruks, and questions framed as academic research. Cruks is the Dutch self-exclusion register, which licensed operators must use; asking for sites that avoid it was a direct test of whether assistants would steer users around a consumer safeguard.

The researchers logged 79 interactions, and 33 included at least one non-licensed operator name. Eight tools named such operators in response to neutral or leading questions without an explicit research framing, while Mistral Le Chat, Google AI Mode, DeepSeek and Grok produced names after a single question.

Some assistants initially refused to provide lists, citing ethical concerns, but yielded after users repeated or reframed their requests. The most troubling failures were not simply name-drops: Microsoft Copilot, Mistral Le Chat and Google Gemini presented unlicensed operators in ways that implied they were legal or licensed. Copilot even produced a “Top 50 legal casinos” list that included unlicensed brands and wrongly associated them with KSA licensing and Cruks.

A recommendation is not a licence check

Some responses also framed higher bonuses, faster payouts, or the absence of identity and Cruks checks as selling points. That is the sort of pitch that can make a dubious operator sound like the clever pick, when those missing safeguards should be a reason to pause.

The study did not test esports bettors specifically, but the warning carries over: if an AI assistant suggests a bookmaker or casino, its answer is not proof that the operator is licensed or safe. Check licensing directly with the relevant regulator rather than treating a chatbot’s tidy list as a compliance badge.

It is a familiar visibility problem in betting, where unlicensed gambling brands can gain attention through sponsorships as well as search and recommendation tools. Licensing enforcement also reaches into esports: Arizona regulators have acted against unauthorized esports betting services, a reminder that the rules apply to the market around competitive gaming, not just traditional sports.