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Citing generative AI: a self-check
When do you have to cite an AI tool, and who counts as the author? Work through three short questions, get instant feedback, and keep a quick-reference for APA, MLA and Chicago close at hand.
Whether you cite generative AI depends on how you used it. Quote it, paraphrase it, or build its output into your work, and you cite. Use it only to brainstorm, outline, or tidy your own wording, and usually you do not, though some instructors ask you to disclose any AI use anyway. Citing a tool does not make its use permitted; that is set by your course and assignment.
The three major styles each handle AI differently. Skim the quick-reference below, then test yourself.
APA Style (7th edition)
In updated guidance (September 9, 2025), APA cites a specific chat rather than the tool in general. The author is 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.
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.
In-text
Parenthetical: (OpenAI, 2025) Narrative: OpenAI (2025)
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
MLA cites by the title, so use the first words of the prompt in quotation marks, for example ("Describe the symbolism").
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.
Author-date
(ChatGPT, March 7, 2023). Include a bibliography entry only if you can give a publicly available URL; if not, use a note alone.
These guides update their advice as AI evolves, so confirm the current format on each style's official site before you submit.
Now check your understanding. Select an answer to see feedback. Each option explains why it's right or wrong.