How to Cite ChatGPT — APA and MLA Citation Guide for AI Tools

By Liza Long. Part of MyEssayFeedback.ai's Critical AI Literacy series. Always check your instructor's policy before using AI.

Acknowledge Before You Cite

Include a reflection on how and why you used AI. Monash University format: "I acknowledge the use of [AI system] to [specific use]. The prompts used include [prompts]. The output was used to [explain use]."

APA Style (7th Edition)

Company as author, year, tool name in italics, version in brackets as Large language model, URL. Example: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat. Include shareable links when available.

MLA Style

Cite whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate AI-created content. Prompt as title, AI tool as container, version and company, date, URL. Always verify AI-recommended sources — ChatGPT frequently hallucinates fake academic citations.

5-Step Checklist

1. Permission — check with your instructor. 2. Reflect — if using AI just to avoid doing the work, reconsider. 3. Acknowledge — appendix or cover letter. 4. Cite — in text and References/Works Cited. 5. Verify — always check AI information against trusted sources.

See also: Ethical concerns with generative AI.