How to Cite ChatGPT in APA 7 and How to Declare AI Use in Your Paper
APA's current format (September 2025) for citing a ChatGPT conversation and an AI tool, the difference between citing and declaring, a template AI-use declaration, and what to write in the method chapter - with examples.
Part of the series: AI in Academic Writing: The Complete Guide to Using ChatGPT Correctly in a Seminar Paper or Thesis
Two different things get mixed up here: citing (when content AI generated appears in your paper) and declaring (when AI helped with the process). Most academic papers mainly need the second - but it's worth knowing both.
When to cite and when to declare
| What you did | What you need |
|---|---|
| AI helped organise ideas, fix wording, explain a concept, write code | a declaration, per your institution's rules |
| You present text or an answer AI generated (e.g. as part of analysing AI responses) | an in-text citation + a reference-list entry |
| AI "said" a fact (a figure, finding, definition) | don't cite the AI - find the real source and cite that |
The last row matters: ChatGPT isn't an academic source for facts. If it said something important to your paper, find an article that says it, and cite the article.
APA's format (September 2025 update)
In 2025 APA updated its guidance: cite the specific chat, not just the tool. The author is the company that developed the tool.
A specific chat (with a share link):
AI Company. (Year, Month Day). Title of the chat [Generative AI chat]. Tool Name. URL of the shared chat
OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/...
The tool in general:
OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/
In the text: (OpenAI, 2025) or OpenAI (2025). For Claude - Anthropic; for Gemini - Google.
The prompt doesn't go in the reference list - describe it in the text if relevant, and if your institution asks, attach the full conversation in an appendix.
Note: some institutions still use APA's earlier (2023) format, e.g. OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. If your department gave a format, it wins.
Declaring AI use
Most Israeli institutions require or recommend a declaration. Bar-Ilan requires declaring use or non-use, with a form listing kinds of use - brainstorming, research assistance, drafting content, language improvement, citation formatting, data analysis, translation, code and more (Bar-Ilan guidelines, Hebrew). Tel Aviv University provides a declaration template, and attaching the prompts or conversations may be required (TAU policy, Hebrew).
Example wording (when your institution has no form)
Declaration on the use of AI tools
In preparing this paper I used ChatGPT (OpenAI) to: (1) explain statistical concepts while studying the material; (2) suggest wording improvements in the introduction and discussion, on text I wrote. All sources were found and read by me, and all analyses were run and checked by me. I take full responsibility for the content of this paper, including any errors.
It's short, specific, and says what AI did and what you did. That's all the marker needs.
In the method chapter
If AI was part of the research itself - e.g. it helped code open-ended answers or write analysis code - describe it in the method chapter, in the data-analysis section: which tool, which version, why, and how you checked its output.
FAQ
How do I cite ChatGPT in APA 7? Per the September 2025 update, cite the chat: OpenAI. (2025, August 21). Title of the chat [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. URL; in text (OpenAI, 2025).
Do I need to declare if I only used it for language? At many institutions, yes. When in doubt, declare: an unnecessary declaration does no harm; a missing one might.
Can ChatGPT be an "author" or a source for a fact? No. APA and academic institutions don't recognise AI as an author, and facts are cited from the original source.
Should I attach the conversations? If your institution or lecturer asks - yes, in an appendix. Keep them anyway - see AI detectors and documenting your work.
Not sure what's allowed for you and how to word the declaration? We help you build AI use that fits your institution's rules, including the declaration. Get a quote. For the full picture: AI in academic writing.
Tell us what you need, and we'll come back with an expert in APA & citation check and a quote.
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