How to Cite ChatGPT in APA and MLA

You can cite ChatGPT by matching your saved interaction to the current APA or MLA format. Keep the prompt and response handy so you can build the entry, match the in-text citation, and explain the tool's role.

How to cite ChatGPT: 1. Gather the citation details

I'd keep the saved interaction beside your draft while building the entry. Add a retrievable conversation link when appropriate. If a model or version isn't available, leave it unguessed and record that gap in your notes.

Review the transcript for private information before publishing a link. Decide what readers should access before creating your reference.

1. Check permission. Read your assignment or publication requirements. Purdue Libraries advises checking the relevant policy first; a citation doesn't authorize AI use.
2. Save the response details. Keep the prompt, relevant output, conversation date, tool name, and available model or version.
3. Choose APA or MLA. Follow your required style's current guidance rather than mixing templates.
4. Add the citation and disclosure. Identify incorporated content beside the passage, then explain the tool's role where required.
5. Verify underlying sources. Open suggested originals, confirm their details and claims, and cite what you actually consulted.

2. Build the APA reference and in-text citation

For APA 7th edition, use APA's current AI References page. Its earlier ChatGPT blog post is marked archival. The tool template is: OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT [Large language model]. [Tool URL]

OpenAI is the organizational author. Year means the tool's latest-update year, not automatically your access year. APA says to use the website or app's copyright date if no latest-update date is indicated. The italicized title can name the tool generally or the specific model.

For a retrievable conversation, use: OpenAI. (Year, Month Day). Title of chat [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. [Shared-chat URL]. Give the date the conversation occurred or concluded, a descriptive title, and the conversation URL.

Purdue Libraries recommends citing the specific chat when a stable shared link is available. A tool reference fits discussion of the tool itself. For output readers can't retrieve, preserve important prompts and responses in an appendix or supplement; don't treat generated output as personal communication.

The in-text forms are (OpenAI, Year) and OpenAI (Year). Match that year to your chosen reference, then place the citation beside the passage using the output.

Choose the APA reference that fits

3. Build the MLA Works Cited entry and in-text citation

MLA's revised guidance starts with a description of the generated material, not ChatGPT as author. Its template is: “Description of prompt” prompt. ChatGPT, model [available model/version], OpenAI, [Day Month Year], [Shared-chat URL].

ChatGPT is the container; OpenAI is the publisher. Give the generation date and the most specific available model or version. Prefer a stable conversation URL. MLA allows the general tool URL when a stable sharing feature isn't available.

Here's how to cite ChatGPT in MLA in-text citations: use the shortened opening description, such as (“Description of prompt”). Keep enough words for readers to find the Works Cited entry. Check that connection rather than adding invented page numbers.

4. Describe how you used AI

When deciding how to cite ChatGPT as a source, separate incorporated content from assistance. Quoted or paraphrased output needs attribution. Brainstorming, summarizing, or editing calls for a workflow explanation when your requirements specify one.

Adapt this disclosure: “I used ChatGPT to suggest an outline for the discussion section. I selected and revised the structure and verified the sources independently.” Replace those tasks with what you actually did.

Purdue Libraries lists the text, methods section, acknowledgment, or appendix as possible disclosure locations. Follow your required placement and retain important prompts and output. A minor assisted edit doesn't automatically need the same reference as a quoted response.

Citation and disclosure have different jobs

5. Verify and cite the original sources

When ChatGPT suggests an article, book, statistic, or quotation, open the original. Confirm its author and publication details, then locate the passage supporting your claim. Cite that consulted source; the conversation citation doesn't validate its factual content.

Treat generated bibliography entries as drafts. Compare every field with the publication and your style's template. Keep any required AI-use disclosure separate from the evidence citation.

Once you've verified an original, Blurwrite's summarizer can extract its main points into a paragraph or bullet points. Keep the citation details beside those notes. For sentence-level rewording, the paraphrasing tool marks changed words so you can review your paraphrase against the original.

Check the finished example and avoid common mistakes

Illustrative interaction, not a real transcript. Prompt: “Suggest a title for an essay about campus gardens.” Response: “Campus Gardens as Learning Spaces.” The date and link below are placeholders; no model information is assumed available.

APA reference: OpenAI. ([Year, Month Day]). Essay title about campus gardens [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. [Shared-chat URL]. Parenthetical: (OpenAI, [Year]). Narrative: OpenAI ([Year]).

MLA entry: Campus garden essay title prompt. ChatGPT, OpenAI, [Day Month Year], [Shared-chat URL]. In-text: (Campus garden essay title). This entry begins with an unquoted description, so its matching citation is unquoted too.

Disclosure: “I used ChatGPT to suggest an essay title and selected its proposed wording.” That explains the task without implying the tool supplied the essay's evidence.

Keep the italics and punctuation shown, and apply hanging-indent formatting to both entries. Replace the placeholders with saved details, then check the corrections below.

• Move ChatGPT out of MLA's author position and into the container element.
• Replace an archived APA template with the current tool or chat format.
• Remove guessed versions and invented locators.
• Match the in-text citation to the entry's opening element.
• Review private transcript content and verify generated references against originals.

Match the citation to the entry

Run the final citation checklist

For Chicago style, follow its own instructions for citing ChatGPT, often using acknowledgment or notes, according to Purdue Libraries. Don't adapt APA or MLA punctuation.

For AMA, GW's Himmelfarb Library says to disclose ChatGPT use in running text rather than a formal reference list. Include the relevant tool and workflow details under your publication's requirements.

For a ChatGPT-generated image, check visual-material guidance for attribution, captions, and disclosure. MLA describes image-specific captions and citation details. Use those instructions rather than automatically reusing the text example, then check your finished draft below.

• Confirm the planned AI use is permitted.
• Check current guidance for your required style.
• Match citation fields to your saved interaction.
• Consider whether readers can retrieve the output.
• Match the in-text citation to the entry.
• Place the disclosure where required.
• Verify and cite original evidence.
• Review transcript privacy before sharing.

Written byJudith HaleAcademic writing coachUpdated on October 4, 2026