Module 3 · Read

Guidelines for Citing Generative AI

In academic and professional writing, proper citation builds credibility, gives credit to original sources, and lets readers verify your work. As generative AI becomes more common in research and writing, knowing how to cite it correctly matters. Because AI-generated content has no traditional author and often cannot be retrieved like a published work, the major styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago) have each set out specific guidance.

Reminder: always follow your instructor's guidelines when using AI for an assignment. If the syllabus does not mention AI, check with your instructor before you use it. Citing a tool does not make its use permitted; that is set by your course and assignment.

When Should You Cite Generative AI?

Whether you cite AI depends on how you used it. Provide a citation if you:

Directly quote AI-generated text.
Paraphrase or summarize AI-generated content.
Use AI to generate images, datasets, code, or other media in your work.
Incorporate AI-generated ideas that contribute meaningfully to your analysis.

If AI was used only for brainstorming, proofreading, or minor rewording, a citation may not be needed. Even then, follow your instructor's guidelines, which may ask you to document your prompts, the AI output, and your revisions.

Quick tips:

Describe how you used AI in your methods or introduction.
Always verify AI-generated sources to avoid hallucinated citations. Fact-check with the (YOUR LIBRARY) Citation Guide and library resources.
Use AI as a tool, not a replacement, and rely on your own critical thinking. If AI-generated responses are substantial, include them in an appendix and reference them.

Citing GenAI in Different Styles: Quick Guide

The tabs below show how to cite AI in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. These guides update their advice as AI evolves, so confirm the current format on each style's official site (linked in each tab).

APA Style (7th edition)

In updated guidance (September 2025), APA cites a specific chat rather than the tool in general. The author is still the company that made the tool, for example OpenAI. The date is the date of your chat, the title describes that chat in italics, the AI tool is named as the source, and you add a shareable link if the tool provides one. Include both an in-text citation and a reference list entry, and describe your prompt and the response in your text.

Reference list entry

OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311

Use the bracketed label [Generative AI chat] for a chatbot conversation. If your tool cannot produce a shareable link, omit the URL and describe the prompt and response in your text instead.

In-text citation

Parenthetical: (OpenAI, 2025) Narrative: OpenAI (2025)

AI-generated images

APA still has no separate rule for AI-generated images. As interim guidance, present an image you made with AI as a figure and disclose the tool and prompt in the figure note (for example, "Figure generated using ChatGPT, OpenAI, 2026, with the prompt ..."). You do not need a separate reference list entry for an image you generated yourself.

More: APA Style Blog: Citing generative AI in APA Style (2025 update).

MLA Style (9th edition)

MLA does not treat AI as an author. Describe what the AI generated (often the prompt) as the title, and name the AI tool as the container, in italics. Cite AI whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate its content.

Works Cited entry (AI text)

"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-text citation

MLA cites by the title, so use the first words of the prompt in quotation marks, for example ("Describe the symbolism").

AI-generated images

Fig. 1. "Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers" prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.

More: MLA Style Center: Citing generative AI.

Chicago Style (18th edition)

Chicago asks you to credit AI when you reproduce its words, but unless you can provide a publicly available URL (one that does not require a login), put that information in a note, not in the bibliography. ChatGPT stands in as the "author," and OpenAI is the publisher.

Footnote or endnote

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

If you edited the AI text, say so in the note (for example, "edited for style and content").

Author-date style

(ChatGPT, March 7, 2023)

Bibliography

Include a bibliography entry only if you can give a publicly available URL. If not, use a note alone.

More: Chicago Manual of Style: Citing AI.

A note on tool names and links: some style guides' published examples still use "chat.openai.com/chat"; ChatGPT now lives at chatgpt.com, and image tools are renamed often (for example, Bing Image Creator is now part of Microsoft Copilot). Use the tool name and URL that are current when you write, and match your style guide's latest example.

Knowledge Check

Select an answer to see feedback. Each option explains why it is or is not correct.

Question 1 of 3

You used ChatGPT to brainstorm topic ideas, then wrote the whole paper yourself. Do you need to cite it?

Question 2 of 3

In APA style, who is listed as the "author" in a ChatGPT reference?

Question 3 of 3

Why should you double-check any sources an AI tool gives you?

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Modern Language Association of America. (2021). MLA handbook (9th ed.). mlahandbookplus.org

University of Chicago Press. (2024). The Chicago manual of style (18th ed.). chicagomanualofstyle.org