How to cite ChatGPT and other AI tools
How to cite ChatGPT and other AI tools in APA, MLA and Chicago style, when a citation is needed, what to record, and why you still need real sources.
If you used an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude in your work, you may need to say so, and sometimes to cite it formally. The major style guides have all published advice on this. This guide summarizes how APA, MLA and Chicago handle AI-generated text, what to record while you work, and the mistakes that most often cause problems.
Your instructor’s, school’s or publisher’s instructions always come first. Style guides also update their advice as tools change, so confirm the latest guidance on the official APA Style, MLA Style Center and Chicago Manual of Style websites before you submit.
Do you need to cite an AI tool?
A formal citation is usually expected when AI-generated material appears in your work. For example:
- you quote or paraphrase text that the tool produced;
- you include AI-generated text, images, code or data in what you submit or publish;
- you analyse or discuss what an AI tool said, for instance comparing its answer with a published source.
When AI only helped with your process, such as brainstorming topics, suggesting an outline or pointing out grammar mistakes, many instructors ask for a short disclosure statement rather than a citation. Rules vary, so check the assignment brief or ask.
One important point: citing an AI tool does not make its use acceptable if your course or publication doesn’t allow it. Citation is about transparency, not permission.
Record these details while you work
AI responses are hard to reproduce later, so save the details at the time. You’ll need some or all of the following:
- The name of the tool and the company that makes it
- The version or model name shown in the tool, if there is one
- The date you generated the response
- The exact prompt you entered
- A copy of the response, such as an export, a screenshot or a share link
- A note on how you used the output in your work
How to cite AI in APA style
APA Style’s published guidance treats the company that created the tool as the author and cites the tool like software. The reference follows this pattern:
Company. (Year). Name of tool (Version) [Large language model]. URL
APA’s own example, for a version of ChatGPT used in 2023, looks like this:
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
The matching in-text citation is (OpenAI, 2023) or “OpenAI (2023)”. Use the version name or date that your tool actually shows, and the year of the version you used.
APA also recommends explaining how you used the tool in your text, including the prompt you entered. If the exchange is long, you can include the full text in an appendix or in supplementary materials so readers can see exactly what the tool produced.
How to cite AI in MLA style
MLA does not treat an AI tool as an author. Instead, it applies its usual template of core elements:
- Title of source: a description of what was generated, usually the prompt
- Title of container: the name of the tool
- Version of the tool, if known
- Publisher: the company that makes the tool
- Date the content was generated
- Location: the web address of the tool
An entry in the Works Cited list, modelled on the MLA Style Center’s example, looks like this:
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
In the text, refer to the source by a shortened version of its title, for example (“Describe the symbolism”). If you paraphrase the output, make it clear in your sentence that the words came from an AI tool.
How to cite AI in Chicago style
The Chicago Manual of Style suggests citing AI-generated text in a note (or a parenthetical citation in author-date style) rather than in the bibliography, because readers generally can’t retrieve the same response you received.
If your text already includes the prompt, a note can be as simple as:
1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
If the prompt isn’t in your text, include it in the note:
1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023.
If you publicly share the conversation and have a stable link, you can add it so readers can check the exchange.
Other citation styles
Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver and other styles are applied differently by different institutions. Your university library’s citation guide is the best place to find the version your course expects. When in doubt, include the same core details: the tool, the company, the version, the date, the prompt and where the response can be found.
How to write a disclosure statement
A disclosure statement explains how AI contributed to your work, even when there is nothing to cite. Keep it short and specific:
I used ChatGPT (OpenAI) on 12 September to suggest three possible structures for this report. I chose and adapted one of them. I also used an AI editing tool to improve the clarity of two paragraphs and reviewed every change. All research, analysis and conclusions are my own.
Place it where your instructor or publisher asks, often at the end of the document or in a methods or acknowledgements section. Our guide to using AI responsibly as a student has more examples.
Don’t cite AI as a source of facts
An AI citation shows where some wording or content came from. It does not make that content true. Language models can produce confident statements that are wrong and references to articles that don’t exist. If an AI tool gives you a fact, a statistic or a quotation, find the original source, check that it says what the tool claimed, and cite that source instead.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Citing ChatGPT for a fact instead of finding and citing the real source
- Copying references suggested by an AI tool without checking that they exist
- Forgetting to save the prompt and response, which makes the citation impossible to complete
- Assuming that a citation makes AI use acceptable where the rules don’t allow it
- Paraphrasing AI output so closely that it is effectively a quotation without quotation marks
Quick checklist
- I checked my course or publisher rules on AI use
- I saved the tool name, version, date, prompt and response
- I formatted the citation in the required style and checked the official guidance
- I verified any facts and cited the original sources
- I added a disclosure statement if one was required
For help putting other writers’ ideas into your own words correctly, read how to paraphrase properly without plagiarizing.