AI Chatbot
An AI chatbot is a dialogue-based system that answers user queries in natural language – usually based on an LLM and often with RAG to access company knowledge in a controlled way. On business websites it handles support, initial advice or appointment scheduling. Because it processes personal input and represents an AI interaction, it is subject both to GDPR Compliant obligations and – from 2 August 2026 – to AI labelling.
How an AI chatbot works
Modern AI chatbots are based on a large language model (LLM) that understands and formulates queries. So that the bot answers reliably on company-specific topics rather than "hallucinating", RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is usually used: the bot accesses approved documents in a controlled way instead of feeding them into model training. This keeps company knowledge current and in the operator's hands.
Data protection and labelling
A legally sound website chatbot meets five core GDPR duties: a legal basis under Art. 6, information under Art. 13, a data processing agreement with the AI provider (Art. 28), preferably EU hosting, and a deletion concept. In addition, from 2 August 2026 the Transparency Obligation under Art. 50 EU AI Act applies: the bot must be visibly recognisable as AI before the interaction. Implementation details are shown under AI Labelling .