What a real estate agent's website must show in Wisconsin

Does a website count as advertising in Wisconsin?

• The statute applies to "all advertising" and does not list or carve out media, so websites and social media are covered like any other ad. It has no website-specific provision. Wis. Stat. §452.136Wis. Admin. Code REEB 24.04

  “a licensee shall in all advertising disclose the firm’s name exactly as printed on the license”

What every advertisement must show

• The firm's name exactly as printed on the license of the individual broker or broker business entity, or a trade name the firm has filed with the department. Wis. Stat. §452.136

  “disclose the firm’s name exactly as printed on the license of the licensed individual broker or licensed broker business entity or disclose a trade name previously filed by the firm with the department”

• A clear indication that the firm is a business enterprise and not a private party. Wis. Stat. §452.136

  “shall in either case clearly indicate that the firm is a business enterprise and not a private party”

• A licensee associated with a firm advertises under the firm's supervision and in the firm's name, with the firm's name clear and conspicuous. Wis. Stat. §452.136

  “a licensee associated with a firm shall advertise under the supervision of and in the name of the firm. The firm’s name as used in advertising shall be clear and conspicuous.”

Websites specifically

• There is no website-specific rule. A website is advertising like any other, so every page that advertises you shows the firm's licensed or filed trade name, clearly and conspicuously, and that the firm is a business. Wis. Stat. §452.136

Team names

• Wisconsin's advertising statute has no team-name provision. A team advertises like any associated licensee: under the firm's supervision and in its name, which must be clear and conspicuous. A trade name used in place of the licensed name must be one the firm has filed with the department. Wis. Stat. §452.136

What gets agents in trouble

• Advertising in a manner that is false, deceptive or misleading. Wis. Stat. §452.136

  “A licensee may not advertise in a manner that is false, deceptive, or misleading.”

• Advertising a property unless your firm is its listing firm, or your firm or a licensee associated with it has the listing firm's consent to advertise it. Wis. Stat. §452.136

• Advertising a property at a price other than the one agreed with the owner (a range or general terms are allowed if they reflect the agreed price). Wis. Stat. §452.136

Worth knowing

• Selling your own real estate occasionally, or occasionally soliciting property to buy for yourself, doesn't need the firm-name disclosures, as long as the ad clearly identifies you as a real estate licensee. Ads for renting real estate you own are also exempt from the firm-name rules. Wis. Stat. §452.136

• Section 452.136 does not require a license number, phone number or address in advertising; it requires the firm's name and the business-not-private-party statement. Wis. Stat. §452.136

How many agents this applies to

1,702 real estate agents were working in Wisconsin when we last counted, across 20 brokerage offices. That is agents with a live profile on a brokerage's own site, not everyone holding a licence, so it is the population these rules actually bind day to day. The Wisconsin brokerage directory breaks it down office by office. Counted 2026-10-07.

Sources

This page paraphrases the rules; the rules themselves are what bind you. Each was read on the date shown. If the Board changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.

• Wis. Stat. §452.136 — Advertising by licensees — read 2026-10-07
• Wis. Admin. Code REEB 24.04 — Advertising — read 2026-10-07
• Regulator: Wisconsin Real Estate Examining Board (Department of Safety and Professional Services)

Not legal advice. When a rule and this page disagree, the rule wins; when in doubt, ask your broker or the Board.

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