Before citing generative AI, double-check with your instructor to see if AI use is permitted. If it is, below are a few examples. MLA does not treat the generative AI as an author. Instead, start your citation with the text of the prompt you gave in quotation marks, followed by the word prompt. MLA recommends describing how you used the AI in your paper, rather than just in the Works Cited list.
MLA citation template:
"The prompt you used" prompt. AI platform, version, date of your prompt, URL.
Examples:
“Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.
“Explain antibiotics” prompt. Claude, Sonnet 4.6, 14 April 2026, https://claude.ai/share/31289f38-c19c-4a4a-a377-7a802fc53baa.
MLA In-text Citation:
("Prompt you used")
("Explain antibiotics")
