The MLA’s method for citing sources uses a template of core elements—standardized criteria that writers can use to evaluate sources and create works-cited-list entries based on that evaluation. That new technologies, like ChatGPT, emerge is a key reason why the MLA has adopted this approach to citation—to give writers flexibility to apply the style when they encounter new types of sources. In what follows, we offer recommendations for citing generative AI, defined as a tool that “can analyze or summarize content from a huge set of information, including web pages, books and other writing available on the internet, and use that data to create original new content”

In general MLA suggests the following formats for in-text citations and entries on the Works Cited page: 

In-text citation:

("first 2 words of the prompt")

Works cited entry: 

“Text of prompt” prompt. Name of Tool, Day Month version, Name of publisher, Day Month Year, URL to access tool.

So, for example: 

“Explain antibiotics” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 16 Feb. 2023, chat.openai.com.

Example from a paper showing how to reference paraphrased information from a ChatGPT response with the citation used on the Works Cited page:

While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.

Works Cited page entry:

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023,

Example from a paper showing how to reference quoted information from a ChatGPT response with the citation used on the Works Cited page:

However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” (“In 200 words”).

Works-Cited-List Entry

“In 200 words, describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 9 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Author:  MLA does not recommend treating the AI tool as an author. This recommendation follows the policies developed by various publishers, including the MLA’s journal PMLA. 

Title of Source: Describe what was generated by the AI tool. This may involve including information about the prompt in the Title of Source element if you have not done so in the text. 

Title of Container: Use the Title of Container element to name the AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT).

Version: Name the version of the AI tool as specifically as possible. For example, the examples in this post were developed using ChatGPT 3.5, which assigns a specific date to the version, so the Version element shows this version date.

Publisher: Name the company that made the tool.  See the table below for the publishers of the most common AI Tools

Date: Give the date the content was generated.

Location: Give the general URL for the tool.