How to Cite ChatGPT
To cite ChatGPT, treat the AI tool as the author and credit OpenAI as the source. A typical reference names the model, the version or date, the company, and the URL of the tool, plus the prompt you used. The exact format depends on whether you use APA, MLA, or Chicago.
Can you cite ChatGPT?
Yes, and if you used ChatGPT to generate text, ideas, code, or images that appear in your work, you should. Most instructors and publishers now expect AI use to be disclosed and cited so readers know which parts of your work were machine generated. Citing it is also the honest way to show your process. Before you cite, check your assignment or journal guidelines, because some courses ban AI tools and others require a separate disclosure statement on top of the citation.
What information do you need to cite ChatGPT?
AI output is not a stable, retrievable source the way a published article is, so citation styles adapt their usual rules. Across styles, you will generally record:
- The author or publisher: usually OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT.
- The tool and version: for example, ChatGPT, including the model or version where you can identify it.
- The date: the date you generated the response, because the same prompt can produce different answers later.
- The URL: the address of the tool.
- The prompt: what you asked, which you often describe in your text or an appendix so the reader understands the context.
Because another reader cannot reproduce your exact session, many style guides recommend keeping a copy of the full conversation or pasting the prompt and key output into an appendix.
How APA treats ChatGPT
APA style treats ChatGPT as software and credits the company that made it as the author. In APA the in-text citation pairs the author with the year, and the reference entry includes the version description and a link to the tool. APA also advises describing your prompt in the text of your paper and, where it adds value, including the AI response in an appendix so readers can see what was generated. Use the APA generator below to assemble the exact reference and matching in-text citation.
How MLA treats ChatGPT
MLA style centers the citation on what you asked. MLA recommends describing the AI tool and quoting or paraphrasing the prompt, then naming the tool, the company behind it, the date of the version, and the URL in the works-cited entry. Because MLA leads with the most relevant element, the prompt and the tool name carry most of the weight, and the in-text reference points readers to the matching works-cited entry.
How Chicago treats ChatGPT
Chicago style commonly handles AI output in a note rather than a formal bibliography entry, since the content cannot be retrieved by a reader. A Chicago note typically names the tool, the company, the date you generated the text, and the prompt, so the credit and context live in a footnote or endnote close to where you used the output. The generator below builds the note for you.
Best practices when citing AI
Whatever style you use, follow a few habits. Disclose AI use clearly, since hiding it can count as academic misconduct. Record the date, because results change over time. Keep the prompt and the output, ideally in an appendix, so your work is transparent and reproducible in spirit even though the exact session cannot be regenerated. And always verify any fact ChatGPT gives you against a reliable source, because AI tools can produce confident but incorrect information. When you are ready to format the reference precisely, pick your style below and let the generator handle the punctuation.
How to cite other AI tools
The same logic extends to other generative tools. Whether you used Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, or an image generator, the approach is consistent: credit the company that makes the tool, name the tool and the version where you can, record the date you used it, capture the prompt, and link to the tool. Only the specific names change. If your style has a clear rule for software or for AI specifically, follow it; if not, adapt the rule for software or for a personal communication, since AI output is not publicly retrievable in the way an article is. The generator below lets you pick a style and produce a correctly formatted entry for any AI tool, not just ChatGPT.
Quoting versus paraphrasing AI output
How you used the output shapes how you present it. If you quote ChatGPT word for word, set the text off as a quotation and cite it so the reader knows the exact wording came from the tool. If you paraphrase or build on an idea ChatGPT suggested, you still cite it, but you do not need quotation marks. Either way, make it obvious in your prose that this material is AI generated rather than your own analysis. Vague attribution is the most common mistake students make with AI sources, and it is the one most likely to be flagged as a misuse.
Where to record the prompt
Because the prompt is central to understanding AI output, decide early where it will live. Short prompts can sit inside your sentence, for example by writing that you asked the tool to summarize a topic in plain language. Longer prompts and the full response usually belong in an appendix, with a short pointer in the body. Keeping a saved transcript also protects you if anyone questions what the tool actually produced. The generator handles the citation; you handle the disclosure and the saved record.