Microsoft’s Copilot advertising has come under scrutiny from an industry watchdog for its productivity claims and confusing use of Copilot branding. The Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has conducted a review of Microsoft’s Copilot advertising and suggested that the software giant either discontinues or modifies its productivity claims regarding Microsoft 365 Copilot. Additionally, NAD recommended clearer disclosure of the limitations of its Business Chat feature.

One of the claims made by Microsoft is that Copilot offers productivity and return on investment (ROI) benefits for businesses that utilize the AI assistant. They have stated that a certain percentage of users reported increased productivity after using Copilot. However, NAD found that the study did not align well with the objective claim being made. As a result, NAD advised that the claim should be revised or completely discontinued.

In addition to the productivity claims, NAD also raised concerns about the potential confusion among users due to Microsoft’s extensive use of the Copilot branding across various products, including Business Chat. The watchdog concluded that consumers might not fully grasp the distinctions between different offerings. Therefore, NAD recommended that Microsoft make adjustments to its advertising to clearly outline any significant limitations related to how Business Chat supports users.

Microsoft has a history of convoluted branding for Copilot. Earlier this year, the company revamped its Copilot for business by introducing free AI chat and pay-as-you-go agents in an effort to streamline its branding strategy. What is now known as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat initially started as Bing Chat Enterprise before being rebranded to Copilot. Amidst these changes, Business Chat, which originally existed as a chatbot in Teams, has transformed into Business Chat for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

As previously discussed in Notepad, Microsoft has been navigating the rebranding of Copilot in a typical Microsoft fashion. This process is part of their strategy to encourage businesses to utilize Copilot more and potentially upgrade to the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.

While Microsoft has expressed disagreement with NAD’s findings, they have committed to implementing the recommendations provided by the watchdog to clarify their claims. This suggests that we may see clearer Copilot branding in the future.