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AI Guide · Regulations

Sector-specific advertising bans

This is not legal advice.EU rules checked: November 6, 2026 · Turkey rules checked: October 1, 2026

Short answer

In some sectors, producing content with AI is easy but publishing it is not. These rules are set by each country and its professional bodies; within the EU, total bans on advertising by regulated professions are not allowed, but professional rules can still limit the content. Turkey is strict: health care providers may not advertise with patient thank-you messages, beauty salons may not perform or advertise medical laser or IPL treatments, lawyers may not advertise, private schools may not use students’ names, photos or results in ads, and real estate listings must show the agent’s license number.

EU: set by each country, within limits

  • EU member states must remove total bans on commercial communications by regulated professions. Professional rules may still regulate their content to protect the independence, dignity and integrity of the profession and professional secrecy, as long as those rules are non-discriminatory, justified and proportionate (Services Directive, Art. 24).[1]
  • Our practice noteThe details differ by country and profession. Before producing AI content for a health care provider, law firm, school or real estate agent, check the rules of its own country and professional body; Turkey’s rules below show how strict they can be.

In Turkey

Turkey’s rules on this topic, from the official legal texts. They apply to businesses operating in Turkey or targeting customers there.

Health care providers

  • Posts that amount to advertising may not be built on thank-you or satisfaction messages from patients or their relatives (Art. 5/1-e).[2]
  • Before-and-after images of medical procedures must be taken in the same setting and under the same technical conditions, and must meet the regulation’s other requirements (Art. 7/1).[2]

Beauty salons

  • Beauty salons may not perform any medical procedure with laser or IPL, such as acne, skin resurfacing, vein or pigmentation treatment, and may not advertise such procedures (Annex 1/J 16.3).[3]
  • The devices they may use are limited (IPL at 600–1200 nm, diode laser for hair removal only, up to 20 J/cm²), and promotion may not use wording that suggests a “beauty center” (Annex 1/J 13.2, 16.1).[3]

Lawyers

  • Lawyers are prohibited from any attempt to win work that could count as advertising (Attorneys’ Act, Art. 55).[4]
  • Client information may not be shared on a website under “references” or any other heading (Advertising Ban Regulation, Art. 7/d).[5]
  • To win work, lawyers may not use code, keywords, subdomains, page addresses or similar methods in online channels or website code aimed at ranking higher in search engines (Art. 7/e).[5]
  • Our practice noteFor this reason, we do not offer or sell client acquisition, search ads or SEO to law firms in Turkey; only in-office productivity work.

Private schools and tutoring centers

  • Their ads and announcements may not use students’ photos, names or academic results (Regulation on Private Educational Institutions, Additional Art. 4/1).[6]

Real estate

  • Real estate listings must clearly show the license number, the business name on the license and the property’s location (Regulation on Real Estate Trade, Art. 14/2-i).[7]

What should you do?

  • Clarify the business’s sector and license type before producing content (for example, beauty salon or health care provider).
  • When you ask AI to produce content, state these restrictions in the prompt and check the output before publishing.
  • Screen before-and-after images, customer thank-you messages and “best” claims against the sector’s rules.

Where does this come up?

Writing & Content (in Turkish) Image Generation (in Turkish)
AI Setup for Hotel & Wellness Spas

Sources

  1. [1] Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, Art. 24
  2. [2] Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (Turkey), Art. 5, 7 (Official Gazette of Turkey, November 12, 2025, No. 33075)Original title: Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Tanıtım ve Bilgilendirme Faaliyetleri Hakkında Yönetmelik
  3. [3] Regulation on Business Opening and Operating Licenses (Turkey), Annex 1 J (beauty salons), 13.2, 16.1, 16.3 (Official Gazette of Turkey, August 10, 2005, No. 25902; amended August 25, 2022, No. 31934)Original title: İşyeri Açma ve Çalışma Ruhsatlarına İlişkin Yönetmelik, Ek-1 J (güzellik salonları)
  4. [4] Attorneys’ Act No. 1136 (Turkey), Art. 55Original title: 1136 sayılı Avukatlık Kanunu
  5. [5] Union of Turkish Bar Associations Advertising Ban Regulation, Art. 7 (Official Gazette of Turkey, November 21, 2003, No. 25296; amended August 9, 2024, No. 32627 and May 2, 2026, No. 33241)Original title: Türkiye Barolar Birliği Reklam Yasağı Yönetmeliği
  6. [6] Turkish Ministry of National Education Regulation on Private Educational Institutions, Additional Art. 4 (Official Gazette of Turkey, March 20, 2012, No. 28239)Original title: Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı Özel Öğretim Kurumları Yönetmeliği
  7. [7] Regulation on Real Estate Trade (Turkey), Art. 14/2-i (Official Gazette of Turkey, June 5, 2018, No. 30442)Original title: Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik

EU sources were read from the official texts on November 6, 2026; Turkish sources on October 1, 2026. If the law changes, this page is updated along with the date.