PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/ChatGPT and other AI tools

How to Cite ChatGPT and Other AI Tools in APA 7

To cite a specific AI chat in APA 7, list the company as the author, the date of the chat, the chat's title in italics, the description [Generative AI chat], the tool's name, and the chat's share link. To cite the tool in general, list the company, the year, the tool's name in italics, [Large language model], and the tool's URL. Either way, the in-text citation is the company and the year: (OpenAI, 2026).

The format

Company. (Year, Month Day). Title of the chat [Generative AI chat]. Tool Name. URL of the shared chat
Company. (Year). Tool Name [Large language model]. URL of the tool

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste your chat's share link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes share links from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity and builds an AI chat reference: the company as the author, the tool's name, [Generative AI chat], and your link. For many links it also reads the chat's title and the date. ChatGPT share links don't carry a date, so pick the day of your chat yourself. Then check the title against your chat's: type it in if it comes in blank, and make sure only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalized.

Citing the tool in general? Type its name, like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, into the search, or paste the tool's address (chatgpt.com, claude.ai). PERRLA fills in the company, the tool's name, [Large language model], this year, and the URL.

Adding one by hand? Choose Software, AI, & Mobile Apps, then Generative AI Model (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.), and pick Specific AI interaction (e.g., chat) or General AI tool (not a specific interaction). Fill in the AI Tool Name, the Publishing Company Name, the date, and the URL. For a chat, the chat's title goes in the Interaction Type box, and PERRLA fills in Generative AI chat as the description. For a tool, type Large language model in Description of AI. Your APA reference shows the tool's name. The Model Name and Prompt Description boxes are used in your MLA references, and APA is fine with the tool's name on its own.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author: the company

The author is the company that built the AI tool, written as a group author. It is never the tool itself, and never you.

OpenAI.

The companies behind the tools students use most: OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), Microsoft (Copilot), and Perplexity AI (Perplexity). APA's reasoning: the author is whoever is responsible for the work, and an AI can't take responsibility for what it writes, so the company that made it fills that spot.

2. Date

For a specific chat, give the year, month, and day the chat took place (or ended, if it ran over several days).

(2026, February 10).

For the tool in general, give only the year the tool was last updated. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all ship updates many times a year, so that's usually the current year. If you can't tell, APA suggests asking the tool, or using the copyright year on its website or app.

3. Title

For a chat, the title is the chat's title, in italics and in sentence case. Most tools name the chat for you and show that name on the share page. You can rename it before you share it, and APA encourages a title that tells readers what the chat is about.

Top 10 writing topics

For the tool in general, the title is the tool's name in italics, either the general name (ChatGPT, Gemini) or a specific model (Gemini 3 Flash).

ChatGPT

4. Description in square brackets

Right after the title, add a plain-text description in square brackets so readers know what kind of source this is. Don't italicize it.

Top 10 writing topics [Generative AI chat].

Use [Generative AI chat] for a chat and [Large language model] for a chatbot cited as a tool. APA lets you adjust the wording when another description fits better, like an image generator.

5. Tool name and URL

For a chat, the source is the tool's name, a period, and the chat's share link. You can name the model here instead (ChatGPT-5, Gemini 3 Flash), but the tool's name is enough.

ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/698b9233-1b58-8008-858d-cede516f4240

For the tool in general, the source is only the tool's URL. The company already appears as the author, so it isn't repeated.

https://chatgpt.com

No share link? Some school and workplace versions of these tools can't share chats. Cite the tool in general instead, and describe what you asked in your paper.

Examples

A shared ChatGPT chat

The APA Style team asked ChatGPT for writing topics on February 10, 2026, and published the share link. The share page titles the chat Top 10 Writing Topics, and the reference puts that title in sentence case.

  • Parenthetical citation(OpenAI, 2026)
  • Narrative citationOpenAI (2026)
  • Later citations(OpenAI, 2026)

A shared Gemini chat

A Gemini chat from the same day, shared with a public link. Google is the author. APA's own reference for this chat names the model, Gemini 3 Flash, in the source. PERRLA prints the tool's name, Gemini, which APA accepts too.

  • Parenthetical citation(Google, 2026)
  • Narrative citationGoogle (2026)
  • Later citations(Google, 2026)

ChatGPT as a tool, not a single chat

Used ChatGPT to brainstorm, outline, or tighten your own writing, across several chats? APA says you don't need to show every draft. Cite the tool in general, and say in your paper how you used it. OpenAI updated ChatGPT throughout 2026, so the year is 2026.

  • Parenthetical citation(OpenAI, 2026)
  • Narrative citationOpenAI (2026)
  • Later citations(OpenAI, 2026)

Claude as a tool

Claude is made by Anthropic, so Anthropic is the author, the same way OpenAI is the author of ChatGPT. Anthropic released new Claude models throughout 2026.

  • Parenthetical citation(Anthropic, 2026)
  • Narrative citationAnthropic (2026)
  • Later citations(Anthropic, 2026)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for AI gives the company and the year, for a chat and for a tool alike. Name the tool in your sentence so readers know which one you used.

  • Parenthetical: (OpenAI, 2026)
  • Narrative: OpenAI (2026)
  • Naming the tool: I used ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2026) to suggest an outline for my literature review.
  • Several tools at once: (Anthropic, 2026; Google, 2026; OpenAI, 2026), in alphabetical order
  • Two chats from the same company in the same year: add a and b after the year, (OpenAI, 2026a) and (OpenAI, 2026b), in the order of the chat titles on your references page

Quoting the prompt. APA keeps prompts out of the reference. If your prompt matters, put it in your text in quotation marks: I asked ChatGPT to "generate a list of the top 10 grammar and writing topics high school graduates should know about" (OpenAI, 2026). A long string of prompts, or a full transcript, belongs in an appendix if your instructor wants it.

Quoting the answer. Treat the AI's words like any quotation: quotation marks, then the citation. There are no page numbers to add. If you used AI to find sources, cite the sources you read, not the AI.

Common mistakes

  • ChatGPT. (2026). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.comOpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.comThe company is the author. The tool's name is the title.
  • OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chatOpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.comThat's APA's 2023 format, retired in September 2025. Version numbers are no longer needed, the year is when the tool was last updated, and ChatGPT's address is now chatgpt.com.
  • (ChatGPT, personal communication, February 10, 2026)(OpenAI, 2026)A chat with AI isn't a conversation with a person. It gets a reference on your references page, and the citation names the company.
  • OpenAI. (2026, February 10). Please generate a list of the top 10 grammar and writing topics high school graduates should know about [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT.OpenAI. (2026, February 10). Top 10 writing topics [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/698b9233-1b58-8008-858d-cede516f4240The title is the chat's title, not your prompt. Describe the prompt in your text, and end with the share link so readers can open the chat.
  • A reference for Copilot in Microsoft Word because it suggested editsNo referenceAPA doesn't ask you to cite AI that's built into common software, like Copilot in Word or the AI features in Canva, any more than you'd cite spell-check.

Quick checklist

  • The company (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft) as the author
  • A chat: the full date of the chat. A tool: the year it was last updated
  • The chat's title, or the tool's name, in italics
  • [Generative AI chat] or [Large language model], not italic
  • A chat: the tool's name and the share link. A tool: just its URL
  • In-text: (Company, Year), with the tool named in your sentence
  • Prompts in your text or an appendix, never in the reference

Questions students ask

Should I cite the specific chat or the AI tool?

Cite the chat when readers would benefit from seeing it, like when you quote or build on what the AI said. Cite the tool in general when a chat link wouldn't help readers or isn't appropriate, like when you used AI to edit your own drafts, or across many chats. Your instructor's AI policy comes first either way.

What if I can't share my chat?

Cite the tool in general, with the company, the year, the tool's name, [Large language model], and the tool's URL. In your paper, describe what you asked and how you used the answer. Save a copy of the chat in case your instructor asks to see it.

Do I need to cite ChatGPT if I only used it to brainstorm?

If you used AI while writing your paper, APA recommends saying so and citing the tool. That way readers, and your instructor, know how the paper was made. For more on disclosing AI use and staying within your school's rules, read our post on citing ChatGPT and other AI tools.

Do I include the version or model number?

Not anymore. In September 2025, APA stopped asking for version numbers, because the major AI tools no longer show them. You can name the model instead of the tool, like Gemini 3 Flash in place of Gemini, but the tool's name on its own is fine.

How do I cite Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or Perplexity?

The same way as ChatGPT. Only the author and the tool's name change: Anthropic for Claude, Google for Gemini, Microsoft for Copilot, and Perplexity AI for Perplexity. In the text, that's (Anthropic, 2026) or (Google, 2026).

I used AI to find sources. Do I cite the AI?

Usually not. Using AI to search is like using a search engine: you cite the articles and pages you actually read. Open every source the AI suggests and make sure it's real and says what the AI claims, because AI tools do invent convincing citations.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.4, 8.17, 8.25–8.27, 9.11, 9.13–9.14, 9.18–9.19, 9.21, and 10.10; the APA Style blog series on citing generative AI (Parts 1 and 2, September 9, 2025); and the APA Style website's AI reference examples (updated April 2026). The example chats are the APA Style team's public share links; each title and date was checked against its share page on October 21, 2026. Tool years were checked against OpenAI's model release notes and Anthropic's news page.

PERRLA builds the AI reference from a chat's share link or the tool's name, with the company as author and the description in brackets.

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