Citing ChatGPT seems like it should be simple. It isn't, because the three main styles treat AI differently, and their guidance has changed more than once since 2023. If you learned a format two years ago, it may already be out of date.
This guide covers the current recommendations from the style guides' own publishers: APA's September 2025 update, MLA's guidance (revised in August 2025) and the Chicago Manual of Style's answer under its 18th edition. The examples use ChatGPT, but the same pattern works for Claude, Gemini, Copilot and other tools. Replace the company and tool name.
A correct citation doesn't make a use permitted. Courses, universities and journals set their own rules on AI, and those come first. For published research, see what journals allow when you use AI.
Cite, or disclose?
Most confusion comes from mixing up two different things. A citation credits a source whose words or ideas appear in your work. A disclosure tells readers how you used a tool in the process. You might need one, the other, or both.
| What you did | Cite it? | Disclose it? |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted or paraphrased the AI's output | Yes | Often required as well |
| Analysed the AI's output as the subject of your paper | Yes | Yes, in your methods |
| Used it to edit, reword or translate your own writing | Usually no | Usually yes |
| Used it to brainstorm or outline | Usually no | Depends on your course or journal |
| Got a fact or statistic from it | No. Find and cite the original source | Only if the policy requires it |
The last row matters most. AI tools don't reliably say where information comes from, and they can be wrong. A fact in your paper needs a source a reader can check, which means the paper or dataset it came from. Our post on AI fake citations explains why AI-supplied references need checking too.
APA Style (7th edition, 2025 guidance)
In September 2025, the APA Style team replaced its 2023 ChatGPT guidance with a new format. The main change is that you now cite the specific chat when you can, using the share link, instead of citing the tool with a version date.
A shared chat
Company. (Year, Month Day). Title of chat [Generative AI chat]. Tool name. Share URL
OpenAI. (2026, October 2). Regression to the mean in sports statistics [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/[chat-id]
In the text: (OpenAI, 2026) or OpenAI (2026).
No shareable link, or citing the tool generally
When you can't share the chat, or you're referring to the tool itself rather than a specific response, cite the tool:
OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com
Prompts and transcripts
APA doesn't put the prompt in the reference. Describe it in your text ("I asked ChatGPT to…"). If the exchange matters to your argument, put the full transcript in an appendix and point to it: (OpenAI, 2026; see Appendix A).
You'll still see this 2023 format in handouts and citation generators: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. APA now keeps that guidance for the record only. Use the 2025 format unless your instructor says otherwise.
MLA Style (9th edition)
MLA applies its usual template of core elements. It doesn't treat the AI as an author. Instead, the title of source describes what was generated, usually by quoting your prompt, and the tool is the container. The August 2025 revision asks you to name the model in the version element and to use a shareable link where one exists.
"Prompt or description" prompt. Tool name, model version, Company, Day Month Year, URL.
"Explain regression to the mean using a sports example" prompt. ChatGPT, [model name] version, OpenAI, 2 Oct. 2026, chatgpt.com/share/[chat-id].
In the text, use a shortened form of the title: ("Explain regression"). MLA also asks you to acknowledge functional uses such as editing or translation in a note or in your text, and to check any sources the AI mentions before you use them.
Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition)
Chicago handles AI text in notes. For an informal piece, naming the tool in your sentence is enough ("as ChatGPT put it when asked…"). For a paper or article, use a numbered note:
1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, October 2, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/share/[chat-id].
If the prompt isn't in your text, include it in the note:
1. ChatGPT, response to "Explain regression to the mean using a sports example," OpenAI, October 2, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/share/[chat-id].
If you edited the generated text, say so in your text or at the end of the note. Small formatting changes don't count. Chicago's guidance doesn't call for a bibliography entry, so check with your instructor or publisher if they require one.
The three styles side by side
| Element | APA (2025) | MLA | Chicago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | The company (OpenAI) | None; the AI is not an author | None; the tool is named in the note |
| Title | Title of the chat, in italics | The prompt, or a description of the output | "Text generated by…" or "response to…" |
| Date | Date of the chat | Date the content was generated | Date the content was generated |
| Version | Not required in the chat format | Model name or number | Not required |
| URL | Share link, or the tool's address | Share link preferred | Share link |
| Prompt | Described in your text; transcript in an appendix | Usually the title of source | In your text or the note |
| Reference list entry | Yes | Yes (Works Cited) | Note only, unless told otherwise |
Other styles
- Harvard: there's no single Harvard authority. Universities publish their own versions, so follow your institution's library guide.
- IEEE, Vancouver, AMA and other journal styles: journals in these styles usually ask you to disclose AI use in the acknowledgments or methods rather than cite it, and to cite original sources for facts.
Common mistakes
- Citing ChatGPT as the source of a fact instead of finding the original
- Listing the AI as an author, in any style
- Copying the 2023 APA format from an old guide or citation generator
- Citing a generic tool URL when a share link was available
- Quoting AI output without saying which parts are quoted
- Citing the tool but not disclosing other uses your course or journal asks about
Keep a record as you go
The easiest way to cite AI correctly is to save what you'll need at the time: the share link, the date, the model and your prompt. Reconstructing a chat weeks later is often impossible. A short log is also useful evidence of your own process if anyone asks.
For your other references, LitraMind's Research & Cite finds published sources for a claim and inserts the citation in APA, MLA, Chicago and other styles, so the reference list is built from real records as you write.
