How to Cite Gemini (Google) in APA, MLA, Chicago and More

Gemini raises a few citation questions the other chatbots do not: it changed its name, it lives inside Google Search, Docs and Gmail as well as its own app, and its share links let readers continue your conversation in their own account. This page covers those points and then gives the formats. The general rules for every AI tool are in the main guide to citing AI tools.

A note on the examples. Your own chat is private to you, so we cannot show a "real" one. Each section gives the format as a template with [bracketed] slots, followed by the style authority's own published example where one exists, quoted and linked so you can check it.

What is specific to Gemini

The author is Google. Every format below uses Google where a style needs an author, publisher or developer. APA's guidance says so directly.

Bard became Gemini on 8 February 2024. Citations describe the source as it was when you consulted it, so a 2023 conversation is still cited as Bard. Do not update old references to say Gemini.

The app has sometimes shown modes instead of model names. Gemini models are named by number and tier, such as Gemini 2.5 Flash or Gemini 3 Pro. Google's release notes show that the picker in the Gemini app has at times used mode labels (Fast, Thinking, Pro) and at other times model names, and they say which model sat behind each label on a given date. APA's 2025 guidance lets the model name stand in as the tool name (its own example is Gemini 2.5 Flash), and it also accepts plain "Gemini". If you cannot establish the model, write Gemini and leave it there.

Public links share the whole conversation. Google's help page says that creating a public link (it starts with g.co/gemini/share/) shares the entire chat, including any image you uploaded, and that anyone with the link can read it, reshare it and in most cases continue the chat on their own. Check the whole conversation for anything private before you create the link.

School and work accounts may not be able to share. Until March 2026 public links were limited to personal Google accounts. Google's Workspace Updates blog announced on 4 March 2026 that administrators can enable them; the setting is off by default. If the option is missing, use the non-retrievable formats below and keep your own copy of the conversation.

Gemini inside Docs, Gmail and Search is a different case. APA's guidance says AI that is integrated into common software does not need a citation, in the same way spell-check does not. Your course or journal may still expect a disclosure. And when an AI Overview or Gemini answer points you to web pages, the pages are the source.

APA 7

A specific chat with a public link:

APA's own published example, which you can open:

The tool in general, for a chat you cannot share or for uses such as editing and translation. This is also APA's own example:

In text: (Google, 2025) or Google (2025). Because "Google" is the author of many things, two Google references in one year are common. Distinguish them with letters after the year, as APA does for any author: 2026a, 2026b.

MLA 9

MLA's worked examples all use ChatGPT; one reads: "Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park" prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, followed by the share link. In text, use a shortened title in quotation marks. A chat from 2023 keeps Bard as the container, because that was its name at the time.

Chicago

A note, with no bibliography entry unless you have a public link or have been asked for one:

With the prompt in the note: [Gemini, with the model name], response to "[your prompt]," Google, [Month Day, Year], [URL]. Chicago's own example of the first form, from its online Q&A, is: 1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, January 10, 2026, URL. A bibliography entry, if required, goes under the developer, following the pattern in McMaster University Library's guide to the 18th edition: Google. Response to "[your prompt]." [Gemini, with the model name], [Month Day, Year]. [URL]. In author-date, library guides show a parenthetical such as (ChatGPT, March 7, 2023) in place of the note.

Harvard (Cite Them Right)

The non-shareable example that Robert Gordon University Library reproduces from Cite Them Right happens to be a Google one, written when the tool was still called Bard:

The current equivalent is: Google Gemini ([year]) Gemini response to [Your Name], [day month]. With a public link: Google Gemini ([year]) [The query you submitted]. Gemini response to [Your Name]. Available at: [URL of the shared chat] (Accessed: [day month year]). In text: (Google Gemini, [year]). Check whether your university has its own Harvard variant.

IEEE

IEEE has no official reference format for generative AI. Its publication policy requires disclosure in the acknowledgments: which AI system, which sections, and the level at which it was used. If an instructor wants a numbered reference, the nearest fit is the software format in the IEEE Reference Guide. This entry is our adaptation, not an IEEE rule:

Vancouver and AMA

Neither puts a chat in the numbered reference list. University guides to the AMA Manual of Style (section 3.15.13) say not to cite generative AI as a reference and to describe its use in the running text or acknowledgments: how it was used, the tool name with version and manufacturer, the dates and, for research use, the prompts. Vancouver has no official AI guidance; UCD Library, for example, recommends treating a chat like a personal communication mentioned only in the text. For journal submissions follow ICMJE: describe the use in the cover letter and the manuscript, do not list Gemini as an author, and do not reference AI-generated material as the primary source.

Disclosing Gemini use

A pattern to adapt, with your own details in the brackets:

Only say what is true of your own work. If you used "Help me write" in Google Docs or a Gemini summary in Gmail, APA does not ask for a reference, but many courses ask for a sentence of disclosure. Your course policy is the rule that counts. Citing Gemini does not make its use acceptable where generative AI is not allowed.

Check what Gemini tells you

Gemini often attaches source links to its answers. Treat them as leads. Open each one, confirm it says what Gemini claims, and cite the page or paper itself. Our guide to citing sources you found through AI tools explains how.

Sources

All pages were checked on 21 September 2026.

• American Psychological Association, Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 1, reference formats and 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 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 and Monash University Library cites 14.112. We also followed Columbia College Library and Western Technical College Library
• Cite Them Right is paywalled; we followed Robert Gordon University Library
• IEEE Author Center, Submission and peer review policies: AI-generated content and the IEEE Reference Guide (software format)
• The AMA Manual of Style is paywalled; we followed Himmelfarb Library, George Washington University and Duquesne University Library. For Vancouver, UCD Library
• ICMJE, Recommendations: artificial intelligence, use by authors
• Google, Bard becomes Gemini (8 February 2024)
• Gemini Apps, Release updates (which model is behind each mode)
• Gemini Apps Help, Share your chats from Gemini Apps
• Google Workspace Updates, Workspace admins can allow Gemini app conversation sharing (4 March 2026)