Aipedia: Landscape architects

AI images in landscape competitions and marketing

Aipedia, by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-10-30

Landscape practices can use AI images to win work and promote themselves, but the LI Code requires truthful advertising and the images must not misrepresent what the client will get. Competition imagery often becomes the client's benchmark for the finished scheme.

Part of: AI in Landscape architects

In short

Generative AI makes it easy to produce polished competition boards, bid images and social media posts. The LI Code requires members to be honest and transparent (R11g(a)) and to advertise truthfully (R11g(e) to (f)). Problems arise when images show work the practice did not design, schemes the budget cannot deliver, or a style closely imitating another designer. Clients may claim they were misled; other designers may allege copying. PI may respond to some of these claims, subject to the wording, and IP infringement cover varies between policies.

How practices use AI images to win work

AI image tools may be used for competition entries, expressions of interest, website portfolios, social media posts and award submissions. A sketch or massing model can become an atmospheric image within minutes, and some practices generate images of design ideas before any design exists. LI TGN 06/19 treats marketing perspectives and bird's-eye views as illustrative images rather than technical visualisations (1.2.3), but that does not make them free of rules. The technical side is covered in AI visualisations and TGN 06/19.

The duties that apply

Under the LI Code of Practice, several duties apply to promotional imagery:

Rule 11 and R11g(a): act with integrity and be honest, transparent and responsive in all aspects of the work;
R11g(e) to (f): advertising must be truthful, so images should not imply the practice designed or built something it did not;
R4g(c): written agreements should address intellectual property, including ownership and permitted use of competition imagery;
R4g(f): confidential client information, such as unpublished site photographs, should not be put into public AI tools without consent.

If images are later used in planning evidence, the Planning Inspectorate's AI casework guidance requires generated or altered images to be declared and discourages exaggerated illustrations.

What can go wrong

Three types of dispute arise most often. First, misrepresentation: a client appoints a practice on the strength of images showing mature planting, rare materials and features the budget cannot support, then claims it was misled. Second, false portfolio: AI images presented as completed or designed work that the practice did not deliver. Third, imitation: an AI image that closely resembles a well-known scheme or another practice's signature style, prompting a complaint or an infringement allegation.

Illustrative scenario. A practice wins a private estate commission with AI images showing a lake, mature specimen trees and natural stone terraces. The fee proposal assumes a modest budget. During design the client learns the lake needs consents and the stone is unaffordable. The client terminates and claims fees and costs, arguing the practice misrepresented what it could deliver. Separately, a designer complains that one competition image reproduces their published garden almost exactly.

How PI usually responds

A client claim that it relied on misleading images during the course of professional services may be treated as a civil liability claim under PI, subject to the wording. Claims based purely on marketing, before any appointment, may sit outside the definition of professional services in some policies. Many PI wordings for design professions include some cover for unintentional infringement of intellectual property, but limits and exclusions vary, and deliberate copying is not covered. Getty v Stability AI [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch) found that the AI model itself was not an infringing copy, but that does not protect a user whose output reproduces a specific protected work. See AI IP infringement insurance and AI, copyright and design ownership.

Practical controls

Practices can keep AI marketing imagery honest with a short checklist:

label AI concept images as illustrative in bids, websites and competition boards;
show only completed work you designed as portfolio projects;
check images against the budget and constraints before issuing them with a fee proposal;
avoid prompts naming other designers, practices or specific schemes;
run a reverse image check on key images before publication;
keep prompts and source sketches to show independent design;
get permission before using photographs of other people's completed schemes as AI inputs.

How Apex helps

Apex arranges PI for landscape practices, including the intellectual property element. A broker can check whether your wording covers unintentional infringement and claims arising from pre-appointment imagery. See the LI Code and AI guide and the landscape architecture hub.

Sources

Frequently asked

Can I use AI images in a competition entry?

Yes, but they must be honest. LI R11g(e) to (f) require truthful advertising, so images should not show features the budget cannot deliver or imply work you did not do. Labelling AI concepts as illustrative helps manage the client's expectations.

Could an AI image infringe another designer's copyright?

It could, if the output reproduces a substantial part of a protected work. Getty v Stability AI in 2025 found the model was not an infringing copy, but that does not protect users whose specific outputs copy a design. Avoid prompts that name other designers or schemes.

Does PI cover claims about misleading marketing images?

Possibly, subject to the wording. Claims arising during professional services are more likely to fall within cover than claims based purely on marketing before an appointment. Intellectual property cover varies between policies, so a broker should check your wording.

Check your PI covers how you use AI

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.