Cite a ChatGPT conversation in Chicago (author-date)
ChatGPT and other AI conversation citations are new enough that Chicago (author-date) (17th ed.) is still settling on a format. The current consensus is to treat the AI as the author, the version (e.g., GPT-4) as the year, and the prompt as the title, with a stable share URL if one exists.
Chicago (author-date) rules for a ChatGPT conversation
- Treat the AI as the author: OpenAI for ChatGPT, Anthropic for Claude, Google for Gemini.
- Use the model version (e.g., GPT-4, Claude 3.5 Sonnet) as part of the title.
- The prompt you used appears in the title or in square brackets as a description.
- Use the date of the conversation, not the model's release date.
- Include a share URL if one is available; otherwise note that the output is unreproducible.
- Cite as 'OpenAI. Year. ChatGPT response to prompt. Date.' with URL if available.
Worked example
Chicago (author-date) · ChatGPT conversationA real ChatGPT conversation formatted using the Chicago (author-date) rules above.
OpenAI. 2024. "Explain the difference between APA 7 and MLA 9 [Large language model]." ChatGPT (GPT-4). accessed January 15, 2025. https://chat.openai.com/share/example-share-id.
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