Disclosure Policy — Aeon

Aeon is a compliance-grade virtual-staging platform. Every AI-generated image and tour produced by the Aeon Services carries layered disclosures that travel with the asset across MLS, social, and direct-publication channels. This policy documents what those disclosures are, how to verify them, and how Aeon’s disclosure copy maps to each U.S. state’s real-estate-advertising guidance.

1. What is virtual staging?

Virtual staging is the practice of rendering furnishings, decor, and lighting into a photograph of a real property using image-editing software. Historically that meant manual compositing in Photoshop; with the arrival of generative AI, virtual staging now means image-to-image diffusion models that can render an entire furnished room from a photograph of an empty one in seconds. The technique has long been legitimate when properly disclosed; the speed and realism of generative AI make explicit disclosure non-negotiable.

Aeon’s outputs preserve the physical geometry of the captured property — walls, doors, windows, fixtures, and structural features remain unchanged — and add virtual furnishings on top. Aeon does not invent rooms, relocate walls, or fabricate features that do not exist in the source photograph or scan. Outputs that would materially misrepresent the property’s geometry are rejected by Aeon’s post-hoc validator and never delivered to a customer.

2. How Aeon discloses virtual staging

Every AI-staged asset produced by the Aeon Services carries four independent disclosures:

Visible footer band. Every staged PNG delivered through the Aeon Services has a 14-pixel black footer compositied at the bottom of the image bearing the text “AI-Staged · {agency} · {date}”. The footer is mandatory in production and cannot be disabled by the customer.
iTXt PNG metadata chunk. Every staged PNG carries an iTXt chunk with key aeon:disclosure whose payload is the per-state disclosure text described in §4 below. The chunk is written after stripping all upstream metadata so no stray EXIF, software-attribution, or third-party-text data survives.
JSON-LD aeon:disclosure field. Public listing pages emit JSON-LD structured data (Schema.org RealEstateListing) that includes an aeon:disclosure field carrying the same per-state copy. AI answer engines that ingest the structured data will surface the disclosure when the listing is summarised or cited.
Empty ↔ Staged toggle. Public listing pages expose a mandatory toggle that flips between the unfurnished source photograph and the virtually staged version. Same room, same camera, same geometry — the buyer can verify both states with one click. The toggle is part of the page chrome and cannot be hidden by individual listing customisation.

3. Per-state disclosure requirements

Each U.S. state and the District of Columbia has its own real-estate-licensing-board guidance on advertising truthfulness. Aeon ships disclosure copy tailored to each jurisdiction; the copy is sourced from the per-state disclosure table in our gateway service (apps/geo-api/disclosure.py, _STATE_DISCLOSURE_TABLE). For each state we publish:

A short form (≤60 chars) used on the visible PNG footer.
A long form (≤300 chars) used in the iTXt chunk, JSON-LD payload, and dashboard tooltip.
A citation linking to the state’s real-estate licensing board, commission, or relevant advertising-rule reference.

States with explicit virtual-staging or AI-image advertising guidance (currently California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia) carry copy aligned to that guidance. States without explicit virtual-staging guidance fall back to the NAR Code of Ethics Article 12 (truthful presentation in advertising) plus the relevant state licensing-board reference; those entries are marked in source as FALLBACK — verify with state-specific counsel and Aeon recommends each agent confirm the wording with their broker’s counsel before relying on the fallback for compliance purposes.

Aeon’s disclosure copy is designed to be informational and is not a substitute for advice from your own counsel. See our Terms of Service, §9.

4. Buyer rights

Buyers viewing a property listed through the Aeon platform have the right to:

See the unfurnished source photograph corresponding to any virtually staged image (via the Empty ↔ Staged toggle on the public listing page).
Read the disclosure text describing how the image was generated and what part of the image is virtual.
Receive the original PNG metadata (iTXt chunk) on request.
File a complaint with the listing brokerage, the local MLS, the relevant state licensing board, or Aeon directly if a virtually staged image misrepresents the physical property.

5. Agent and brokerage responsibilities

Customers who use Aeon to produce virtually staged imagery agree, as part of our Terms of Service, to:

Preserve every disclosure layer Aeon attaches to an output (visible footer, iTXt chunk, JSON-LD field, Empty ↔ Staged toggle).
Comply with all applicable state and federal disclosure rules in the jurisdictions where they list property.
Follow the NAR Code of Ethics, including Article 12 on truthful presentation in advertising, in their use of Aeon outputs.
Not generate imagery of a property without the legal right to do so, including consent from the property owner or listing brokerage where required.
Not use Aeon outputs to engage in discriminatory advertising prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act or any state or local equivalent.

6. Advertising standards

Aeon’s disclosure framework is designed to satisfy the truthfulness and clarity requirements of:

NAR Code of Ethics, Article 12 — REALTORS® shall be careful at all times to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public.
Federal Trade Commission guidance on deceptive advertising (15 U.S.C. §45) and the FTC’s 2022 guidance on AI-generated content disclosure.
Federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §3604(c)) — prohibition on discriminatory advertising.
State real-estate licensing-board rules on advertising, as referenced in the per-state disclosure table.
MLS rules of the local board where the listing is published. MLS rules vary; agents should verify their local board’s virtual-staging rules before publication.

7. Verification procedure

Anyone — buyer, regulator, journalist, or compliance officer — can verify Aeon’s disclosures on a given asset:

Visible footer. Inspect the bottom 14 pixels of any staged PNG; the disclosure footer is black with white text and reads “AI-Staged · {agency} · {date}”.
iTXt chunk. Run any PNG metadata inspector (e.g., exiftool on the command line, or open the file in a tool that exposes PNG text chunks) and look for the aeon:disclosure key. The payload is UTF-8 plain text and matches the per-state long-form disclosure for the listing’s state.
JSON-LD payload. Visit the public listing page, view source, and locate the <script type="application/ld+json"> block. The aeon:disclosure field carries the same per-state copy.
Empty ↔ Staged toggle. Click the toggle on the public listing page to flip between the unfurnished source and the staged version. Both states share camera position; rooms, doorways, and fixtures must align pixel-for-pixel.

8. Reporting a concern

If you believe an Aeon-produced image misrepresents a property, omits a required disclosure, or otherwise violates this policy, contact us at compliance@aeon.example. Include the listing URL, a description of the concern, and any supporting screenshots. We will acknowledge receipt within two business days and investigate.

9. Updates

State real-estate-licensing-board guidance on virtual staging continues to evolve. We update this page and the underlying per-state disclosure table as guidance changes. Material updates are reflected in the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.