How to Cite AI Tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Others)

AI tools are now part of academic work, and the citation rules have caught up more than most people realise: APA and MLA both revised their guidance in 2025, and Chicago's 18th edition has a section on it. This page covers what applies to every tool. For exact formats and the quirks of a particular tool, go to its own guide.

Guides for each tool

• How to cite Claude: Anthropic as author, Opus, Sonnet and Haiku model names, snapshot share links.
• How to cite Gemini: Google as author, public links, the Bard rename, Gemini inside Docs and Search.
• How to cite ChatGPT: what changed since the 2023 examples, chatgpt.com share links, workspace accounts.
• How to cite Microsoft Copilot: which Copilot you used, and when Copilot in Word needs only a disclosure.
• How to cite Perplexity: when to cite the sources it found and when to cite its answer.
• How to cite Claude Code and GitHub Copilot: AI coding assistants in code, repositories and papers.
• How to cite Consensus, Elicit and other AI research tools: cite the papers, acknowledge the tool.
• How to cite AI-generated images: Midjourney, DALL-E and images made in ChatGPT.

Do you need to cite the AI at all?

Yes, when its output is in your work. Text you quoted or paraphrased, an idea or framework it proposed, code it wrote, a summary you built on. MLA's rule, stated in its 2023 post, is to cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote or incorporate into your own work any content it created.

No, when the AI only led you to a source. If a chatbot mentions a study, find the study, read it, and cite the study. APA's 2025 guidance treats AI used as a search engine like a Google search: in most cases you cite the sources you read, not the AI. APA and MLA both warn that AI tools can make up sources or mischaracterise real ones, so opening the original is not optional. See how to cite sources you found through AI tools.

Not as a reference, when the AI is built into ordinary software. APA compares Copilot inside Microsoft Word to spell-check, which you would not cite. MLA's 2023 guidance asked that functional uses such as editing or translating be acknowledged in a note or your text.

Your course or journal policy overrides all three. Some require disclosure of any AI use; some prohibit it.

What every citation needs

• The company, as author or publisher: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Perplexity AI. None of these styles treats the chatbot as an author, and COPE and ICMJE say an AI tool cannot be listed as an author of your paper either; ACM requires every author to be an identifiable human being.
• The tool, and the model if you know it. MLA and Chicago want the model. APA stopped asking for a version by default in 2025.
• The date you generated the content, because the same prompt gives different output later.
• A share link if the tool offers one. APA and MLA now prefer the link to the specific chat over the tool's home page. Share links from personal accounts are typically snapshots, and links from work or school accounts often cannot be opened by outsiders.
• The prompt, in your sentence, in the citation (MLA) or in an appendix.

Quick reference by style

Your own chat is private to you, so the examples here are the style authorities' own published ones, quoted so you can check them. The per-tool guides give fill-in templates.

APA 7 (updated 9 September 2025). A specific shared chat, then a tool in general; both are APA's own examples:

In text: (OpenAI, 2025); (Google, 2025).

MLA 9 (updated 13 August 2025). No author; the prompt is the title, the tool is the container, the model is the version. MLA's own example:

Chicago (18th edition). A note, and normally no bibliography entry because a private chat is like a personal communication. The example in Chicago's online Q&A, where URL stands for the link from the tool's Share button:

Harvard (Cite Them Right, as reproduced by Robert Gordon University Library) treats a private chat as a personal communication and a shared one as an online source: OpenAI ChatGPT ([year]) ChatGPT response to [Your Name], [day month]. University variants differ.

IEEE has no reference format for generative AI. Its publication policy requires disclosure in the acknowledgments of AI-generated text, figures, images and code. University guides to the AMA Manual of Style say generative AI is described in the running text and not cited in the reference list. Vancouver has no official AI guidance; library guides such as UCD's treat a chat like a personal communication, mentioned in the text only. ICMJE adds that referencing AI-generated material as the primary source is not acceptable.

Tools without their own guide

Grok. None of the style guides we checked names Grok, so use the general templates. The one trap is the company name. Grok was developed by xAI. Business Insider reported that SpaceX acquired xAI in February 2026 and that the company rebranded as SpaceXAI in July 2026. Cite the company name as the product showed it when you generated the content. APA 7, for the tool as it was in 2025: xAI. (2025). Grok [Large language model]. https://grok.com. As with any share link, check a conversation for private details before you make it public.

DeepSeek, Mistral's assistant and others. Same pattern: company as author (DeepSeek, Mistral AI), tool name, model if shown, date, and a share link or the tool's address. Product names change, so use the name the tool had on the day: Mistral's chat assistant was called Le Chat and is now called Vibe.

Disclosure is separate from citation

A citation credits words and ideas. A disclosure tells the reader how you worked. Many journals and courses now want the second even when the first is not needed: ICMJE asks for it in the cover letter and manuscript, IEEE in the acknowledgments, and COPE in the methods or a similar section. ACM changed course in May 2026: it no longer requires disclosure of AI help with writing, but AI used in the research itself must be described in the methods section. A workable sentence names the tool, company, model, dates and what you used it for, and says who checked the result. Each per-tool guide has an example.

Common mistakes

• Citing the chatbot for a fact. A reference to ChatGPT supports "ChatGPT said this", nothing more. Find a real source for the claim.
• Copying a 2023 format. Examples ending in chat.openai.com/chat or with "(Mar 14 version)" predate the current guidance.
• Making the chatbot the author. It is the company in APA, nobody in MLA, and the tool plus its developer in a Chicago note.
• Guessing the model. Leave it out if you do not know.
• Relying on a share link alone. Links can be revoked. Keep your own copy.

Sources

All pages were checked on 21 September 2026.

• American Psychological Association, Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 1, reference formats, Part 2, AI as a search engine and AI integrated into common software (9 September 2025)
• MLA Style Center, How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? (Updated and Revised) (13 August 2025), the original 2023 post and Beyond citation: describing AI use in your work
• The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Q&A: citing content developed or generated by AI. The 18th edition's section on AI-generated content is paywalled, and the library guides number it differently (McMaster University Library cites 14.111, Monash University Library cites 14.112); we also followed Columbia College Library
• Cite Them Right is paywalled; we followed Robert Gordon University Library
• The AMA Manual of Style is paywalled; we followed Himmelfarb Library, George Washington University and Duquesne University Library. For Vancouver, UCD Library
• Mistral AI, Mistral Vibe (formerly Le Chat)
• Business Insider, xAI makes its rebrand to SpaceXAI complete with a new logo (July 2026)
• IEEE Author Center, Submission and peer review policies: AI-generated content
• ICMJE, Recommendations: artificial intelligence, use by authors
• ACM, Policy on Authorship (updated 14 May 2026)
• COPE, Authorship and AI tools position statement