Citing the Use of Generative-AI
Citing & Acknowledging Generative AI in Your Work
Last updated to reflect the current guidance from APA (revised Sept. 2025), MLA (revised Aug. 2025), and Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed. (Sept. 2024). Because these standards keep evolving, always confirm the latest version with each style's official site and with your instructor.
Why this matters
When you incorporate AI-generated text or images into your work, you must acknowledge that source. Doing so upholds academic integrity, just as you would for a textbook, journal article, or an image made by a human author, artist, or photographer. Academic integrity goes beyond avoiding plagiarism; it includes ethical research practices, fairness, and maintaining academic standards.
Get permission first. Use AI only if your instructor explicitly allows it for the assignment. If you're unsure, ask before including any AI-generated material. When AI use is permitted, cite or acknowledge it each time AI-generated content appears.
UCLA Student Code of Conduct
202.01a: Cheating
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the use of unauthorized materials (including online sources such as Course Hero, GitHub, Chegg), information, or study aids in any academic exercise; the alteration of any answers on a graded document before submitting it for re-grading; or the failure to observe the expressed procedures or instructions of an academic exercise (e.g., unauthorized or prohibited use of artificial intelligence to compose or complete assignments, examination instructions regarding alternate seating, or conversation during an examination).
202.01c: Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of another person’s work (including words, ideas, designs, or data) without giving appropriate attribution or citation. This includes, but is not limited to, representing, with or without the intent to deceive, part or all of an entire work obtained by purchase or otherwise, as the Student’s original work; the omission of or failure to acknowledge the true source of the work; use of artificial intelligence to compose work (including words, ideas, designs, or data) without giving appropriate attribution or citation; or representing an altered but identifiable work of another person or the Student’s own previous work as if it were the Student’s original or new work.
Unless otherwise specified by the faculty member, all submissions, whether in draft or final form, to meet course requirements (including a paper, project, exam, computer program, oral presentation, or other work) must either be the Student’s own work or must clearly acknowledge the source.
What to acknowledge
Acknowledge generative AI's contribution whenever you quote, paraphrase, or otherwise incorporate its output. This also extends to functional uses such as editing, translation, idea generation, and data processing. The style guides differ slightly on how: substantive content you reproduce generally gets a formal citation, while process-level help (e.g., having AI polish your prose) is typically acknowledged in a note or statement rather than formally cited.
Don't trust AI's citations
Avoid relying on sources an AI tool cites unless you have personally located and verified them, for two reasons: AI-generated citations may be fabricated, and even real ones may be inaccurate or stripped of context. When an AI tool points you to a genuine source, cite that original source directly—much as instructors treat Wikipedia: useful for background or for finding sources, but not itself a reliable academic reference.
A note on the moving target
One purpose of citation is to let readers locate and review your source. But AI outputs are dynamic—models are retrained and updated, so the same prompt can produce different results over time. Where a tool offers a stable, shareable link to your specific conversation, use it; this is now the preferred practice across styles. Where no shareable link exists, preserve the exact prompt and output (e.g., in an appendix) so your work remains transparent.
Citing vs. Disclosing
In many cases, it's best to cite the original sources of any information AI surfaced, and to disclose how you used AI, especially for drafting, editing, translating, or brainstorming. When few style guides offer a standardized disclosure template, a brief explanatory statement works well—for example:
"ChatGPT (GPT-5, OpenAI) was used to generate possible titles and refine sentence structure." "Claude (Anthropic) was used to edit paragraphs for clarity."
Your instructor or institution may have their own disclosure requirements, so check first.
Citation Styles
The three main styles—APA, MLA, and Chicago—each updated their AI guidance recently. Choose the style your discipline or instructor requires. The templates below reflect current recommendations; swap in your actual tool, model, date, prompt, and URL.
APA (revised September 2025)
APA treats the company that made the tool as the author (e.g., OpenAI, not ChatGPT), and now distinguishes two situations.
When you can share a stable link to the specific chat — create a full reference:
Reference template:
AI Company. (Year, Month Day). Title of the chat [Generative AI chat]. Tool Name/Model. URL of the chat
Example:
OpenAI. (2026, March 4). Harm reduction initiatives [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/xxxxxxxx
In-text: (OpenAI, 2026)
Tip: Most tools let you rename a chat before sharing—give it a descriptive title so the reference is meaningful to readers.
When no shareable link is available — describe how you used the tool in your Method section (or, for an essay/response paper, your introduction), provide the prompt and the relevant output in an appendix, and use the tool's general URL in the reference with a note pointing to that appendix.
Two things APA now clarifies:
AI built into common software (e.g., the AI features in Canva or a word processor) generally does not need a citation.
AI used as a search engine: cite the original source the AI led you to, not the AI tool.
MLA (revised August 2025)
MLA does not treat the AI tool as an author. You build the entry from MLA's template of core elements, describing what the tool generated. The August 2025 revision made two key changes: include the model name/number in the Version element, and prefer a stable, shareable URL to the conversation (use the general tool link only if no shareable URL is available).
Works-Cited template:
"Description of the prompt" prompt. AI Tool, model/version, Company, Day Month Year, URL.
Example:
"Examples of harm reduction initiatives" prompt. ChatGPT, GPT-5, OpenAI, 4 Mar. 2026, https://chatgpt.com/share/xxxxxxxx .
In-text: ("Examples of harm reduction")
Functional / process uses (editing your prose, translating, brainstorming): MLA says to acknowledge these in a note, in your text, or another suitable place rather than formally citing them.
AI-generated images: caption the image with the prompt, tool, model/version, and date (and URL if available):
Fig. 1. "Create an expressionist image of two people on a beach" prompt, DALL·E, version 3, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2025, [URL].
Chicago, 18th ed. (September 2024 — section 14.112)
Chicago treats the AI tool as the author of the content and the developer as the publisher, and asks for the version and the date generated. Include a publicly available URL if one exists. Notably, Chicago says not to include AI chats in a bibliography or reference list unless you can provide a publicly accessible link—otherwise treat them like personal communication and cite only in a note (or in the text).
Footnote — prompt given in your text:
Text generated by ChatGPT-5, OpenAI, March 4, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/share/xxxxxxxx .
Footnote — prompt given in the note:
ChatGPT, response to "Examples of harm reduction initiatives," OpenAI, March 4, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/share/xxxxxxxx .
Author-date in-text (if using that system): (ChatGPT, March 4, 2026)
If you edited the AI output, say so in the text or at the end of the note—for example, "edited for style and content."
Bibliography entry (only if a public URL is available):
OpenAI. Response to "Examples of harm reduction initiatives." ChatGPT-5, March 4, 2026. https://chatgpt.com/share/xxxxxxxx .
Quick reference
Who is the "author"? | Model name required? | Goes in bibliography/reference list? | |
|---|---|---|---|
APA | The company (e.g., OpenAI) | Yes (tool or model) | Yes, when a shareable chat link exists |
MLA | No author; describe the output | Yes (in Version element) | Yes (Works Cited) |
Chicago | The tool (e.g., ChatGPT) | Yes (version) | Only if a public URL exists; otherwise note only |
Citations serve two purposes: crediting the original creator and letting others locate your sources. Because AI guidance is still developing, check each style's official site frequently, and when in doubt, add a short note explaining how you used the AI tool. Always defer to your instructor's or institution's specific requirements.