Citing and Acknowledgement of Generative AI Use

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Before You Cite:

Before you use Generative AI (GenAI) tools for your course work:

  • Confirm with your instructor that the use of GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, are allowed for your assignment.
  • If you are permitted to use GenAI you must acknowledge the use or cite the content used to maintain transparency and honesty.
  • GenAI is evolving, this means citation formats need to change as well. Always check the citation style guide for updates on citing GenAI generated content.
  • Just because you are permitted to use GenAI tool doesn’t mean you should. 
    • Academic research requires you to use reliable, verifiable academic scholarly resources that may not be available through GenAI. For this content use the web or library databases instead.
    • GenAI “generates” responses, word by word. It is predictive.  It will present true and false information with total confidence.
    • GenAI can generate fake facts, data and even give false citations (known as hallucinations). Always trace information back to a verified real world primary source before including it in your work. Using incorrect/dated materials in your work can influence the outcome and your grade.

Citation & Acknowledgement of GenAI Use

It is always good practice to document your use of Generative AI tools to support citation or acknowledgement.

How to document Your Use of Generative AI.

  • Take screenshots/video recordings.
  • Saving copies of prompts and responses.
  • Saving copies of project/assignment drafts.
  • Taking notes on how the responses assisted you.

When GenAI is permitted you should either acknowledge its use or cite its output depending on how you have used the tool.

An Acknowledgement is a brief statement declaring which AI tools you used, how you used them, and how you edited the results.

A Citation is used when you are directly referencing the output (response) of a generative AI tool, such as quoting text or reproducing an image.

When to Acknowledge or Cite GenAI use.

AI Acknowledgements AI Citation
Explains how AI was used in your work Identifies a specific AI-generated response you used
Focuses on transparency and academic integrity Focuses on giving credit to the source of the information
Usually appears in a note, statement or acknowledgement section Appears in the text and reference list According to a citation style (APA, MLA, IEEE etc.)
Answers “How Did I use AI” Answers: “Where did this information come from?”
May be required even when AI content is not directly quoted Used when AI-generated content is incorporated into the work.

(Chart developed with the assistance of Microsoft Co-Pilot. Microsoft. (2026). AI Acknowledgement with AI Citation (AI-generated image]. Microsoft Copilot. https://copilot.microsoft.com)

Generative AI Citation

When a GenAI tool provides a shareable chat link.

  • Some GenAI tools will permit you to create a unique URL for a specific chat session. This link lets your reader view the same AI generated information you used. In this case you would not need to include the prompt and response in an appendix or as supplementary materials.
  • Example: For ChatGPT the URL for the specific chat can be captured using the Share Tool. https://chatgpt.com/share/6a4e5762-8ba4-83ea-9ec4-89cb052f3ef3

When a GenAI tool does not provide a shareable chat link

  • Your URL will be the tool’s homepage (landing page). This URL will not give the reader the access to the same AI generated information you used. Because readers cannot see the content for themselves you should include the prompt and response in an appendix, or as supplementary materials or even within your text.
  • Example: For a ChatGPT chat the URL you would include in the reference would be the landing page for the tool https://chatgpt.com/.

APA 7th Edition Citation Style

APA classifies GenAI as a software not as an author. This recognizes that GenAI produces content but does not take responsibilities for the output, as an author would. Instead of author APA uses the developer of the AI in the author’s place in References and Citations.

Reference List

Developer. (Version Year). Name of generative AI tool (Version number) [Type of AI Model]. URL of tool

Example: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 23 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

  • Parenthetical citation: (AI Company Name, year)
  • Narrative citation: AI Company Name (year)

Reference for a specific Generative AI chat (quote or paraphrase)

Developer of the AI tool. (date of chat occurred in year/month/day format). Title of chat – Choose a title that describes the topic of the chat. [Generative AI chat] Name of generative AI tool. URL

Example:

OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311

If a direct link to the chat is not available, use the landing page URL https://chat.openai.com

  • Parenthetical citations: OpenAI, 2025
  • Narrative citations: OpenAI (2025)

In-Text Citation (Quote or Paraphrase)

Remember to include the prompt you used whenever you quote or paraphrase text generated by an AI tool. Since you (the author) may not be able to provide the exact GenAI-generated text via a stable URL link, you may also consider including a copy of the text as an appendix or as part of supplemental materials. If you are including a copy of the generated text, you may refer to it in the body of your text, or as part of the in-text citation such as in the example below.

Remember to include the prompt you used whenever you quote, or paraphrase text generated by an AI tool. Since your reader can’t access the exact GenAI-generated text, you may also consider including a copy of the text as an appendix or as part of supplemental materials. If you are including a copy of the generated text, you may refer to it in the body of your text, or as part of the in-text citation such as in the example below.

Example:

Given the prompt “What are large language models?” the text generated by ChatGPT described them as “artificial intelligence systems that have been trained on vast amounts of text data, with the goal of understanding natural language and generating human-like responses to text-based inputs” (OpenAI, 2023).

When provided with a follow up prompt of “What are examples of large language models?” ChatGPT identified OpenAI’s GPT-3, NVIDIA’s Megatron, and Google’s LaMDA as some of the examples of large language models (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

For more information, see APA’s Blogs:

  1. Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 1 – Reference Formats
  2. Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 2—AI as a search engine and AI integrated into common software
  3. Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 3—Is AI “allowed” in APA Style?
This citation guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). The contents are accurate to the best of our knowledge. Some examples illustrate Seneca Libraries’ recommendations and are marked as modifications of the official APA guidelines.

creative commons license cc by nc sa 4.0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca Libraries. For information please contact citation@senecacollege.ca. When copying this guide, please retain this box.

MLA

MLA does not recognize GenAI as an author. It uses the prompt in place of author in Works Cited and in in-text citations

Reference: “Your full or shortened prompt.” Name of AI Tool, version of the model, Publisher/Company, Date of generation, URL.

In-text citation: (Use the first words of your prompt in quotation marks)

For more information, see MLA Style Centre’s How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? Revised and Revised.

IEEE

IEEE does not recognize GenAI as an author. It currently does not have formalized GenAI Referencing rules.

IEEE requires disclosure of GenAI use in the acknowledgements or methodology or an appendix. It does not recognize GenAI as an author and currently does not have formalized GenAI Referencing rules.

If you are permitted to use Generative AI for your assessments and you are using IEEE Citation Style, reference Generative AI content following IEEE’s rules for software or private communication to avoid Academic Misconduct.

Example: [] Creator’s Name. Title of AI Tool (Version or Date). Available: URL [Type of Medium]

For more information, see IEEES statement on Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Generated Text.

Chicago

Chicago Does not recognize AI as an author. It references Generative AI content as “personal communications”. List the AI tool name and version (e.g., ChatGPT-4) as the author, and the maker (e.g., OpenAI) as the publisher.

Personal communications are usually omitted from the final bibliography. AI chats may be an exception at your institution. Please consult your instructor, they may require AI chats to be included in your bibliography in keeping with Algonquin’s Academic Integrity policy.

Chicago requires AI use be acknowledged in the text or provide a formal footnote/endnote. Provide the exact prompt used, the generation date, and a publicly accessible URL if available.

For more information, see The Chicago Manual of Style Online’s – Citation, Documentation of Sources.

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