PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/ChatGPT and other AI tools

How to Cite ChatGPT and Other AI Tools in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for ChatGPT has no author. It starts with your prompt in quotation marks followed by the word prompt, then the tool's name in italics, the model, the company that made the tool, the date of the chat, and the chat's share link. The in-text citation is the first few words of the prompt, in quotation marks: ("Describe the theme").

The format

"Your prompt or a description of it" prompt. Tool Name, model Name, Company, Day Month Year, share link.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th 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 sets up an AI chat reference with the tool's name, the company, and your link. For some links it also reads the date. ChatGPT links in the chatgpt.com/share/ form don't carry one, so check Date of interaction and pick the day of your chat yourself if it's empty. Then add the two things MLA needs that a link can't supply: type your prompt in Prompt Description, and type the word model and the model's name in Model Name, like model GPT-4o.

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). Fill in the AI Tool Name, the Model Name, the Prompt Description, the Publishing Company Name, the Date of interaction, and the URL. Your MLA entry doesn't use the Interaction Type or Description of AI boxes, so you can leave them as they are. PERRLA adds the quotation marks, the word prompt, the italics, and the date format.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. No author

MLA doesn't treat an AI tool as an author, and it doesn't list you or the company there either. The entry starts with the title instead.

The company still appears, later in the entry, as the publisher.

2. The prompt as the title

Describe what the AI produced, usually by giving your prompt in quotation marks, followed by the word prompt and a period. Leave the prompt's own closing period off, and keep its wording as you typed it.

"Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park" prompt.

A long chat can have many prompts. MLA lets you use the one you're citing, or a shorter description that covers the conversation, like Theme of nature in Austen's Mansfield Park prompt. If you already quoted the prompt in your paper, a short description is enough.

3. Tool name

The AI tool is the container, so its name goes in italics, followed by a comma.

ChatGPT,

Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity work the same way: Claude, Gemini, Copilot.

4. Model

Name the model you used, as specifically as you can, after the word model.

model GPT-4o,

For an image generator, MLA names the version the same way: version 3 for DALL-E 3.

5. Company

Give the company that made the tool as the publisher, followed by a comma.

OpenAI,

The companies behind the tools students use most: OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), Microsoft (Copilot), and Perplexity AI (Perplexity).

6. Date

Give the day, month, and year the AI produced the content you're citing, followed by a comma. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

23 Sept. 2024,

7. Share link

End with the chat's share link and a period. In ChatGPT, click Share at the top of the chat to make one. MLA prefers this link because it opens your exact conversation. MLA also drops the https:// from the front of a URL.

chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.

No share link? Some school and workplace versions of these tools can't share chats. Give the tool's general address instead, like chatgpt.com.

Examples

A shared ChatGPT chat

The MLA's own example: a September 23, 2024, ChatGPT chat about nature in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, made with the GPT-4o model and shared with a public link. The prompt is the title, and the in-text citation uses its first words.

  • In-text citation("Describe the theme")
  • Narrative citationAsked to "describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park," ChatGPT answered that …

A recent ChatGPT chat with a newer model

The APA Style team asked ChatGPT for grammar and writing topics on February 10, 2026, and published the share link. The chat ran on GPT-5.2, so that's the model. The full prompt is the title, word for word, including Please.

  • In-text citation("Please generate")
  • Narrative citationWhen asked for the top ten grammar and writing topics for high school graduates, ChatGPT listed …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for AI gives the first few words of the prompt, in quotation marks, since the prompt is the first thing in the Works Cited entry. There are no page numbers to add.

  • Parenthetical: ("Describe the theme")
  • Prompt in your sentence: when your sentence quotes or describes the prompt, no parenthetical is needed: When I asked ChatGPT to describe the theme of nature in Mansfield Park, it pointed to the novel's settings.
  • Quoting the answer: treat the AI's words like any quotation: quotation marks, then the citation. Nature "often mirrors the personalities or inner states of the characters" ("Describe the theme").
  • Several prompts in one chat: make an entry for each prompt you cite, or one entry with a description that covers the conversation.

Using AI without quoting it. If you used AI to edit your writing, translate, or brainstorm, MLA asks you to say so in a note, in your text, or wherever your instructor prefers, even when you don't quote it. If you used AI to find sources, read and cite those sources yourself, not the AI.

Common mistakes

  • OpenAI. (2026, February 10). Top 10 writing topics [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT."Please generate a list of the top 10 grammar and writing topics high school graduates should know about" prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-5.2, OpenAI, 10 Feb. 2026,That's APA. MLA has no author, uses your prompt as the title, italicizes the tool's name, and puts the company and date after the model.
  • ChatGPT. "Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.""Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park" prompt. ChatGPT,MLA doesn't treat an AI tool as an author. The tool's name goes after the title, in italics.
  • (OpenAI) or (ChatGPT, 2024)("Describe the theme")The in-text citation matches the first thing in the Works Cited entry, which is the prompt. MLA doesn't use the year.
  • ChatGPT, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com.ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.MLA asks for the model, and for the chat's share link when the tool can make one, so readers can open the exact conversation.
  • ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.That's the MLA's 2023 format. Its August 2025 update names the model instead of a version date and prefers a share link.

Quick checklist

  • No author: start with the prompt in quotation marks, then prompt
  • The tool's name in italics
  • model and the model's name
  • The company, then the day, month, and year of the chat
  • The share link, or the tool's address if there's no share link
  • In-text: the first few words of the prompt, in quotation marks
  • Any other AI use acknowledged in a note or your text

Questions students ask

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

MLA asks you to cite AI whenever you quote, paraphrase, or use something it created, and to acknowledge other uses, like editing or translating, in a note, your text, or another place your instructor accepts. Your instructor's AI policy comes first either way.

What if I can't share my chat?

Give the tool's general address in place of the share link, like chatgpt.com. Save a copy of the chat in case your instructor asks to see it.

Do I include the model or version?

Yes. Since its August 2025 update, MLA asks for the model as specifically as you can give it, like model GPT-4o, right after the tool's name. The 2023 format's version dates, like 13 Feb. version, are no longer needed.

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

The same way as ChatGPT. Only the tool, the model, and the company change: Claude and Anthropic, Gemini and Google, Copilot and Microsoft, Perplexity and Perplexity AI. The in-text citation is still the first words of your prompt.

How do I cite an image made with AI?

Put the details in the figure's caption: Fig. 1., then the prompt in quotation marks and prompt, the tool, the version, the company, the date, and the link, all separated by commas. You can also give the same details as a Works Cited entry instead.

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

No. Click through, read the sources it points to, and cite them directly. AI tools can misquote a source or invent one that doesn't exist, so check that every source is real and says what the AI claims.

Rules checked against the MLA Style Center's "How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? (Updated and Revised)" (August 13, 2025), its March 2023 original, and "Beyond Citation: Describing AI Use in Your Work" (August 13, 2025), with the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), 1.7 (figure captions), and 5.28–5.29 (descriptions and text from the work as the title), both sections named in the MLA's AI post, and the Style Center's URL guidance (no https://). The Mansfield Park chat is the MLA's own example; the February 10, 2026, chat is the APA Style team's. Each share page was read on October 27, 2026: the prompt, the model (gpt-4o and gpt-5-2 in the page's message data), and the message time stamps (September 23, 2024, and February 10, 2026).

PERRLA builds the AI entry from your share link and prompt, with the prompt as the title and the tool in italics.

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