Saying where AI was used: KDP and the other stores

Most stores now ask whether AI made any part of your book, and they don't all draw the line in the same place. This is what each one asks, from its own pages, and what counts as made by AI.

Two words most stores use

AI-generated (or AI-created): an AI tool made it. KDP and Barnes & Noble say it stays AI-generated even if you edited it heavily afterwards. KDP, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble ask about this.
AI-assisted: you made it, and AI only helped you edit, check or refine it, or gave you ideas. Most stores don't ask about this. Barnes & Noble does, and PublishDrive's guidelines both ask for it and say it isn't needed.

Store	What it asks	AI that only helped
Amazon KDP	Whether AI generated any text, images (the cover and pictures inside) or translations, when you publish a book or republish it after changes.	Not asked. KDP says you needn't tell it about AI that only edited, refined or checked your own work, or helped you brainstorm.
Apple Books	A book with a material portion generated by AI is labelled with the "AI Generated by" artist role, and says so in its description.	Not asked: AI used for ideas, research, editing or a cover image on a book a person wrote.
Barnes & Noble Press	While you set up a book (Build-a-Book) it asks whether generative AI was used for the cover or artwork, the manuscript, images or translations, and whether each was AI-created or AI-assisted. A book can't be published without the answer.	Asked, as AI-assisted: work you made, then edited or expanded with AI.
IngramSpark	It asks about AI use at title setup and says it isn't passing the answer on to the market. AI is also credited in the contributor fields: its example is an illustrator who used AI for the pictures, followed by "Assisted By: Generative AI", which applies to the contributor just before it.	Its page doesn't tell AI that only helped apart from AI that made the content.
PublishDrive	AI-generated content and AI narration are declared under Creators, AI narration also in the Narrator field or the description. Some audiobook stores, such as OverDrive Audio and Apple Books Audio, also want the AI use in the description's first line.	Its guidelines say both: one section asks for AI used in writing, editing, translating, illustrating or narrating to be declared under Creators, and another says AI-assisted books needn't be declared.
Draft2Digital	No AI question on its guidelines page. It doesn't take books generated entirely by AI that haven't been edited extensively by a person.	Welcome: Draft2Digital says it supports AI-assisted work.
Kobo Writing Life	No AI question on Kobo's pages. Its content policy lets it reject books created wholly or partly by text-generation algorithms, and its help pages name books wholly or partly AI-generated among the common reasons for rejection.	Not asked: its rules speak of books made wholly or partly by AI. Kobo's terms say books won't be used to train generative AI, and let Kobo read and process them with AI for tagging, checks, marketing and recaps.
Google Play Books	No AI question in its publisher content policies, which turn down spammy or misleading books and books that give readers a poor experience.	Not asked.

Translations made with AI

KDP, Barnes & Noble and PublishDrive name translations among what they ask about. KDP and Barnes & Noble count an AI translation as made by AI even after you edit it; Apple's guidelines don't mention translations. A translation made in PenStranding is AI-generated for KDP's question, and the studio fills in that answer for the edition.

Covers

KDP and Barnes & Noble ask about AI in the cover too, while Apple counts an AI cover image on a book a person wrote as AI-assisted. A cover made in PenStranding's cover editor starts from your own artwork: the editor sets the type and the wrap, and draws no picture with AI.

Keeping a record

PenStranding records, for each edition, whether AI made any of its text, images or translation, how much, and how much you edited it, with AI that only helped you kept on record but not declared. The KDP kit turns the answers into KDP's own choices, the other stores' kits carry them where a store asks, and the history of what you declared stays with the edition, so you can show what you said and when.

Answer once per edition, and each store's kit carries the answer where the store asks.

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Sources

Checked on 25 October 2026 against Amazon KDP: KDP content guidelines, Apple Books: Apple Books formatting and content guidelines, 1.13, Barnes & Noble Press: Use of generative AI in your project, IngramSpark: AI disclosure and attribution, PublishDrive: PublishDrive publishing guidelines, Draft2Digital: Draft2Digital content guidelines, Kobo Writing Life: Content policy, Kobo Writing Life: Why was my book rejected or blocked?, Kobo Writing Life: Terms of service, 2.3, Google Play Books: Publisher content policies. Stores, agencies and laws change their rules: their own pages have the final word.