Belgian players at risk – AI recommends illegal casinos
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5 Jul 2026 •
Reading time: 2 minutes
The debate surrounding the black market for gambling took on a new dimension this week. iGaming.com highlighted a previous joint investigation by The Guardian and Investigate Europe, which revealed that several popular AI chatbots regularly refer users to unlicensed online casinos.
During the investigation, ChatGPT, Meta AI, Grok, Gemini and other AI assistants were tested with questions about online casinos, bonuses and operators without age or identity checks. In a large proportion of the responses, the systems referred users to operators without a European licence or provided information on ways to circumvent national self-exclusion registers. It now appears that this has increased alarmingly since the last investigation.
AI replacing the traditional search engine
According to various experts, this is a cause for concern, as AI is replacing the traditional search engine for an increasing number of consumers. Whilst regulated casinos must comply with strict rules on player protection, responsible gambling and identity checks, many of these offshore casinos operate outside the supervision of European regulators.
According to market research firm Yield Sec, the illegal online gambling market in Europe was already generating tens of billions of euros in turnover by 2024. This is increasing the pressure on both technology companies and regulators to better protect AI systems against promoting illegal operators.
An important signal for Belgium too
The findings are relevant not only to the United Kingdom, but also to Belgium. The Gaming Commission has long been warning of the growth of illegal casinos that target Belgian players via search engines, affiliates and social media.
According to experts, if AI chatbots start recommending the same unlicensed operators, a new distribution channel will emerge that largely circumvents existing regulations. This threatens to partially undermine the efforts of legal operators, regulators and affiliates who promote only licensed casinos.
AI is becoming the new SEO
Whereas the online battle has centred on Google’s search results for years, it now seems to be slowly shifting towards generative AI. Consumers are increasingly asking questions such as “What is the best online casino?” or “Where can I get the highest bonus?” directly to a chatbot.
If AI systems inadvertently recommend illegal operators in the process, this creates a new risk for consumers and for the regulated gambling market. The question being raised with increasing urgency within the iGaming sector is therefore who is responsible for this: the AI platforms, the developers of the models, or the regulators who are tasked with amending the regulations.