How to Cite ChatGPT and AI Tools (APA, MLA, and Chicago)

AI tools are new enough that the rules for citing them are still settling, and different courses want different things. But the principle is old and simple: if you used a tool to help produce your work and your course allows it, you say so. Here is how to cite ChatGPT and other AI tools in the main styles, and, just as important, when a citation is not the thing that is actually being asked of you.

First, check what your course actually allows

This matters more than the format. Some courses ban AI outright, some require you to disclose and cite it, and some treat it as a normal tool. Citing an AI tool you were not permitted to use does not make using it okay, it just documents it. So read the assignment's AI policy first, and when it is unclear, ask the instructor before you rely on it.

APA (7th edition)

APA treats ChatGPT as software: the company as author, the year of the version you used, the tool and version, a label, and the URL.

MLA (9th edition)

MLA cites the specific prompt you gave, then the tool, its version, the maker, the date, and the URL.

Chicago (17th edition)

Chicago handles AI in a note, naming the tool, the maker, the date, and often the prompt; it usually does not go in the bibliography.

AI citation norms are still moving, so confirm the exact form against your style's latest official guidance or your instructor's instructions before you submit.

When a citation is not what's being asked

A citation documents a tool you used for a specific, limited thing, brainstorming angles, explaining a concept, tidying your phrasing. It does not launder authorship. If an AI wrote a substantial part of the argument and you hand it in as your own thinking, citing it does not fix that, and running it through a humanizer to hide it does not either. Cite AI honestly for what it actually did, keep the thinking and the words that carry your grade yours, and you never have to worry about which format applies.