Content4 min read
Affiliate Link Disclosure: What to Say, and Where to Say It
A commission is a material connection. The disclosure belongs next to the link, not only in a bio or a pinned comment — and that is where most affiliate posts fail.
An affiliate link disclosure is required because a commission is a material connection — a reason you might recommend one product over another that a reader would not guess. The wording is easy. The placement is where affiliate posts fail, and they fail in a specific, repeatable way.
Next to the link, not in the bio
The rule that matters: the disclosure has to be where the link is, at the moment somebody decides whether to tap it.
Three common placements do not satisfy that:
- In the bio. A bio does not travel with a post. Someone seeing the post in a feed
never sees it.
- In a pinned comment. Comments are collapsed by default on most surfaces, and a
pinned comment is not part of the post.
- At the bottom of a long description, below the links themselves. By then the tap has
already happened.
The version that works is short and sits above or beside the first link. On a page with many links, once at the top plus a marker on the first link is generally accepted; on a post with one link, put it next to that link.
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Sponsorship Disclosure GeneratorThe right wording, and — the part that actually gets people in trouble — the right placement.What an affiliate link disclosure should say
| Context | What to write |
|---|---|
| Caption, space is tight | #ad — affiliate link |
| Caption, normal | #ad — affiliate links. I earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. |
| Video description | "Some links below are affiliate links and I earn a commission if you buy through them." |
| Spoken, on camera | "Before I start: the links below are affiliate links, so I earn a commission if you buy through them. It costs you nothing extra." |
"At no extra cost to you" is doing real work: it is the objection a reader has, answered before they form it. It is not required and it is worth the characters.
What does not work is the same list as everywhere else —
#sp, #spon, #collab, and "thanks to" all fail for the same reason. The full list is in the FTC disclosure rules.Above the fold, like everything else
An affiliate disclosure is subject to the same fold problem as any other label. A caption disclosure at character 400 on a surface that cuts at 125 is a disclosure nobody reads.
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Disclosure Placement CheckerYou wrote #ad. This says whether anybody will see it.The checker looks for affiliate wording specifically as well as the ad labels, so a caption that says "I earn a commission" in the first line passes on presence and wording, and is then judged on where it sits. The placement rules per surface are in where #ad goes in a caption.
Tracking parameters are not a disclosure
Worth stating plainly, because the confusion is common: an affiliate tag in a URL is a tracking mechanism, not a label. A reader does not read query strings, and a shortened link hides it entirely.
If you shorten or clean affiliate links, keep the two jobs separate — the commercial tracking in the URL, the disclosure in the words. The UTM link builder is for the first job, and UTM parameters for creators covers what belongs in a link and what does not.
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UTM Link BuilderConsistent campaign links, so your analytics stay readable.Where affiliate programmes add their own rules
Beyond the regulator, the programme you are in usually has terms of its own — required wording, a required page, restrictions on where links may appear, and rules about email and paid ads. Those are contractual rather than legal, and breaking them costs you the account rather than a regulator's attention.
Read the programme's own terms once. They are usually stricter than the law and shorter than you expect.
The FTC's Disclosures 101 addresses affiliate arrangements directly, and the broader picture is in sponsored post disclosure.
Do I need an affiliate link disclosure?
Yes. A commission is a material connection, and it has to be disclosed wherever the links appear.
Is a disclosure in my bio enough for affiliate links?
No. A bio does not travel with the post, so a reader seeing the post in a feed never sees it. The disclosure belongs next to the link.
Does a pinned comment count as an affiliate disclosure?
Not reliably. Comments are collapsed by default on most surfaces, and a pinned comment is not part of the post itself.
Do I need one disclosure per link?
No. One clear statement, positioned so it is read before the first tap, covers a post with many links.
Write the wording for your arrangement with the disclosure generator, then check where it lands with the placement checker.
Put it to work
Tools for the job you just read about
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FreeContent
Sponsorship Disclosure Generator
The right wording, and — the part that actually gets people in trouble — the right placement.
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Disclosure Placement Checker
You wrote #ad. This says whether anybody will see it.
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UTM Link Builder
Consistent campaign links, so your analytics stay readable.
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Google SERP Snippet Preview
See your title and description as a Google result — on a desktop and a phone.
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Social Media URL Cleaner
Strip the tracking off a link — and see what each parameter was telling somebody.
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What to charge for a post — priced the way a brand actually prices it.
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