How to Cite ChatGPT and Other AI Tools
Text or other content from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and other AI tools.
An AI tool is not a source of facts: what it writes can be wrong, and the references it gives can be made up. Cite it for what it wrote, when you quote, paraphrase or show what it made, or when AI is what you are writing about. For a fact, find where it comes from, read it and cite that, as APA and the MLA both ask. APA needs no citation for AI built into everyday software, such as Copilot in Word. Most guides also ask you to say how you used AI.
What You'll Need
Use Share in the AI tool to get a link to the chat, and note the date, the model and your prompt. Keep the chat: deleting it breaks the link.
Example Citations
Cited in the notes only. This style gives it no entry in the bibliography.
Cite Them Right’s form for AI is in its subscription edition, and university guides to it differ. Check your university’s Harvard guide. More on Harvard and AI
Numbered by order of appearance in your document.
IEEE has no form for citing AI. It asks you to name the AI tool in your acknowledgments and say which parts of your work it was used for. Check what your instructor or journal wants. More on IEEE and AI
Numbered by order of appearance in your document.
Vancouver has no form for citing AI. The ICMJE asks you to describe how you used AI in your acknowledgments or methods, and not to cite AI-generated text as a primary source. Check what your instructor or journal wants. More on Vancouver and AI
Each example cites the chat the MLA cites in its own guide, which we opened at its link on 25 October 2026. Its shared page titles it Nature Theme in Mansfield Park, so that is the title the APA example gives.
AI in Each Style
APA
APA replaced its 2023 advice on ChatGPT in September 2025. The 2023 form gave a version, such as “Mar 14 version”, and APA no longer asks for one.
- A shared chat: give its title in Chat Title, and APA cites the chat by that title, with the full date. APA suggests editing the title in the AI tool first, so that it describes the chat.
- The tool itself: leave Chat Title empty, as when AI helped you edit your own writing. APA then cites the tool at its own address, as in OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com. It dates the tool by the year it was last updated, and we print the year of the date you give, so check it.
- Model: APA names the tool or its model, such as Gemini 2.5 Flash. We print the model when its name begins with the tool’s, so GPT-4o prints as ChatGPT.
- Prompt: APA leaves it out of the reference. Describe it in your text if it helps your reader.
MLA
The MLA revised its advice in August 2025. The entry starts with your prompt, or a few words describing it, followed by the word prompt, then names the tool, the model, the company, the date and the link.
- In-text: a short form of the prompt in quotation marks, as in (“Describe the theme”). Type it in Short form of the prompt, or we print the whole prompt.
- Author: the MLA does not treat the tool as the author, so there is none.
- Link: the shared link to the chat, or the tool’s own address if it gives none.
- Sources it names: the MLA asks you to open the sources an AI tool points to, read them and cite those instead.
Chicago
Chicago’s Q&A on AI says that for most writing, naming the tool in your text is enough. A student paper or a research article cites it in a note.
- Prompt: give it when your text does not, and the note reads ChatGPT, response to “your prompt.” Leave it empty and the note starts Text generated by ChatGPT.
- Bibliography: the Chicago Manual says a chat is not usually listed, so we cite it in the notes only. If yours needs an entry, Chicago lists the chat under the company, with a public link. Add it by hand.
- Edited text: if you changed what the tool wrote, say so in your text or at the end of the note, as in “edited for style and content.”
Harvard
Cite Them Right’s form for AI is in its subscription edition. The university guides that follow it differ: some cite a chat in the text only, as a personal communication, and others give a reference with the prompt and the link. We cite the tool under its company, with the date and the link. Check your university’s Harvard guide.
IEEE
The IEEE Reference Guide has no form for AI. IEEE’s guidelines for authors ask you to name the AI tool in your acknowledgments and the sections it was used in, and recommend doing so for editing and grammar help too. Its publishing rules allow an AI tool in a reference list, but as a source only once you have checked what it says yourself. We cite the tool under its company, with the date and the link.
Vancouver
Citing Medicine says nothing about AI. The ICMJE Recommendations, which many medical journals follow, say “Referencing AI-generated material as the primary source is not acceptable.” Cite the sources instead, and say how you used AI. If you are asked for a reference all the same, we cite the tool under its company, with the date and the link.
Other styles
Most other styles have no form for AI yet. We cite the tool under its company, with the date and the link. Check what your instructor or journal wants.
Say How You Used AI
A citation says where words came from. Most guides also ask you to say how you used AI, and your instructor’s or journal’s policy comes first.
- APA: in your text, often the Method section, as in “I used ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025) to edit my paper and provide feedback on clarity and flow.”
- MLA: acknowledge any substantive use, beyond what you cite.
- Chicago: name the tool in your text, and say if you edited what it wrote.
- IEEE: in the acknowledgments, with the AI tool and the sections it was used in.
- Vancouver: the ICMJE asks for writing help in the acknowledgments, and AI used for data, analysis or figures in the methods, with the tool, its version and your prompts.
APA, the MLA and the ICMJE all say not to name an AI tool as an author.
