Starting November 25, 2026, the FCC's new texting rules let your business choose one way for customers to opt out of its automated texts, as long as every text says what that way is. The final rule, published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026, keeps the seven standard words that stop a text: STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE. You may print just one of them, such as "Reply STOP to opt out," but a reply with any of the seven must work. Opt-outs must be honored within ten business days, and a customer who stops your payment reminders can be treated as stopping only those.
Here is what changed, which texts it covers, what each text should say, where opt-outs get lost and a fifteen-minute check for this week. For texts that carry marketing, have your attorney read your consent wording too.
What did the FCC change in its texting rules?
The FCC adopted the order on September 30, 2026 (FCC 26-67). Three changes matter to a business that texts customers:
- You may designate one exclusive way to opt out: a reply to a text with one of the standard words, a key press on an automated call, or a website or phone number you set up for opt-outs. If you do, you no longer have to process opt-outs that arrive another way.
- You must disclose that method clearly on every call and in every text.
- A STOP sent in reply to one kind of informational text, such as appointment or payment reminders, can be treated as stopping only that kind. A STOP sent in reply to a marketing text stops all of your marketing calls and texts.
The date also replaces an older plan. The 2024 "revoke all" rule, which would have made one STOP end every message from a business, had been delayed to January 31, 2027. The Federal Register notice says the new rule supersedes that delayed date on November 25.
Which of your business texts does it cover?
The FCC uses "robocall" for any call made or text sent with an automatic telephone dialing system, and any call with an artificial or prerecorded voice (the order, footnote 1). The opt-out rule applies to the calls and texts that need the customer's consent. In a small business, that means the automated texts nobody thinks of as a campaign:
- Appointment reminders and confirmations from a scheduling app.
- Estimate and invoice links from a CRM or a payment tool.
- Review requests after a job.
- Promotions and seasonal offers.
- Follow-ups from a missed-call text-back or an AI phone assistant.
Whether a tool counts as an autodialer is a legal question. The simple course is to treat every automated text as covered.
What should every business text say now?
If a reply word is your opt-out method, text senders meet the disclosure "by including at least one of the standardized words" in each text, as long as they recognize all seven. A short line at the end does it:
- Reminder: "See you Thursday at 10 AM. Reply C to confirm, or STOP to opt out."
- Promotion: "Fall tune-ups are open this week. Book at the link. Reply STOP to opt out."
Every text, not only the first one. If your system sends from a number that cannot receive replies, the rule asks more: each text must say that two-way texting is not available and give another way to opt out, such as a link or a phone number.
What happens when a customer replies STOP?
Three things, in order:
- Your system treats STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE as an opt-out, in any of your texts. Printing only STOP does not let you ignore the other six.
- You may send one confirmation text. It only confirms, with no offer or promotion in it. Sent within five minutes, it is presumed to fall within the customer's consent.
- The opt-out takes effect within a reasonable time, never more than ten business days after you receive it.
If you do not designate an exclusive method, the older standard stays: you must honor an opt-out made "by any reasonable means." That can be a customer telling your front desk or writing "please stop texting me" in their own words. A person has to notice each one.
Where do opt-outs get lost in a small business?
In our work with owners, the gap is rarely the wording. It is the number of tools. A typical shop texts from three or four places: scheduling, CRM, reviews, payments. A customer who replies STOP to a review request is marked as opted out in the review tool, and the CRM sends them a promotion the next month.
A STOP to a marketing text stops every marketing text from your business, whichever tool sends it. Keep one list of who opted out of what, and make every tool read from it, or send all your texts through one system. Our guide on whether you need a CRM covers when one system is worth it.
How do you check your texts before November 25?
This is the fifteen-minute check we run with owners:
- List every tool that sends texts in your business's name. Ask the person who books, the person who bills and the person who asks for reviews.
- Add yourself as a test customer in each tool and trigger one text.
- Check that each text has an opt-out line, such as "Reply STOP to opt out."
- Reply with a different word to each: QUIT to one, CANCEL to another, OPT OUT to a third. Confirm that each tool stops, and that any confirmation text has no offer in it.
- Write down where each tool keeps its opt-out list, and whether the others can see it.
Anything that fails goes to your provider before November 25. Most tools handle STOP. The other six words and the shared list are where we find the gaps.
How Banana Blueprint helps you set up texts that follow the rules
Banana Blueprint is a business design and engineering firm in Northeast Ohio. We work in person with owner-led businesses in Kent, Akron and Cleveland, and by video with owners across the U.S. Through business engineering, we set up the texts your business sends, from reminders to follow-ups and review requests, with the opt-out line in each one, all seven words recognized and one opt-out list that every tool reads.
If you are deciding what to automate first, read seven automations that give a small business its hours back. For a quick read on your setup, take the 60-second check.
When you are ready, start the conversation by phone or video, in English or Español.
Filed under Business Systems
Written by Adolfo Polanco for owners who want their business to run with less chasing and more clarity. We connect the tools a business already runs on, so work moves from request to done without anyone chasing it.