Citation guides
How to Cite ChatGPT and Other AI Tools
Official APA 7 guidance plus MLA and Harvard formats for citing ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and when you should not cite AI at all.
AI chatbots are now part of how students work, and citation styles have caught up. APA published official guidance for citing ChatGPT, and MLA and most Harvard variants have settled on workable patterns. Before formatting anything, though, there is a more important question.
First: check what your course allows
Universities differ enormously. Some ban generative AI outright, some allow it with disclosure, and some encourage it. No citation format will save an assignment that broke the rules, so read your course guide or ask your teacher first. If AI use is allowed, cite or disclose it as below.
APA 7th edition
APA treats the AI company as the author and the chatbot as the titled work, with the model version in parentheses. This is the format from APA's official guidance.
APA reference list entry
APA in-text citation
Describe the prompt you used in your running text, and consider putting the full transcript in an appendix; the conversation itself is not retrievable by your reader.
MLA 9th edition
MLA starts from the prompt (as the title of the "work"), then names the tool, version, company and date you generated the text.
MLA works cited entry
MLA in-text citation
Harvard style
Most university Harvard guides adapt the APA pattern with "Available at:" and an accessed date. Check your department's variant, or use the Harvard reference generator for ordinary sources and add AI entries by hand.
Harvard reference list entry
Claude, Gemini and Copilot
The pattern is identical for every chatbot; only the company, product and URL change.
APA examples for other AI tools
The golden rule
- Cite AI when you quote or analyse its output, or when disclosure is required.
- Do not cite AI as evidence for facts; find the underlying source and cite that instead.
- Verify everything. If a chatbot names a study, open the study before it goes anywhere near your reference list.
For the sources you find while verifying, paste the link or DOI into the free citation generator and the reference formats itself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cite ChatGPT as a source of facts?
You should not. Language models generate plausible text, not verified facts, and they routinely invent sources. Cite AI when your assignment is about the AI output itself, or when your instructor asks you to disclose how you used it. For factual claims, find and cite the original source.
Do I need to cite AI if I only used it for grammar and wording?
Usually no citation is needed for light editing help, but many universities now ask for a short disclosure statement, for example in the methods section or acknowledgements. Check your course rules; policies differ widely.
What about sources that ChatGPT gave me?
Never copy citations from a chatbot into your reference list without opening them. Models frequently fabricate convincing-looking references. Locate each source yourself, read it, then cite the real thing.
How do I cite Claude or Gemini instead of ChatGPT?
Use exactly the same pattern and swap the company and product: Anthropic for Claude, Google for Gemini, Microsoft for Copilot. The company is the author, the year is when you used it, and the URL points to the tool.