Cite AI tools and software in APA 7
Learn how to cite AI tools, software and apps in APA 7 style. Follow templates for ChatGPT, image generators and mobile apps to reference sources accurately in your writing.
How do you cite and reference AI content?
This guidance is adapted from the APA 7 Style blog.
How you cite and reference Gen AI tools depends on how you’ve used it.
If you've used GenAI to brainstorm ideas or as an information source, you'll need to cite a specific chat. If you've used GenAI more generally, e.g. to edit your writing, edit computer code, to translate text, or to generate images, you'll need to cite the GenAI tool.
Before you use GenAI
- Seek permission and clarify how GenAI can be used before using GenAI tools in any way.
- Undergraduate students: check your unit descriptions and talk with lecturers, tutors, or unit or course coordinators as use of GenAI tools may vary for each assessment or course.
- Higher Degree by Research students: have a conversation with Graduate Research Services, supervisors, or publishers where relevant.
- Acknowledge any use of GenAI tools in an in-text citation and reference list entry.
- Remember to save your prompts and output because you may also need to provide an acknowledgement and transcript in an appendix detailing your interaction with the GenAI tools.
- Check with your lecturer if you've used GenAI as a search engine because you might not need to reference it. Also, remember that GenAI tools often hallucinate references, so use library search to check that they actually exist, read carefully, and cite those sources if appropriate.
Check with your lecturer, tutor, course or unit coordinator, or supervisor before using GenAI tools as an information source. These tools often hallucinate content and references. Check the output’s accuracy by consulting scholarly sources such as peer reviewed journal articles or books.
In-text citations
When paraphrasing, include the GenAI company name and the year that chat was conducted in round brackets. Include a paragraph number for direct quotes.
| Citation format | Example |
| Template | (GenAI company name, Year, para. #) |
| Paraphrasing | Many people with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk of infection because … (Google, 2025). |
| Direct quote | Patients with type 1 diabetes should be very careful as “chronic hyperglycemia impairs immune function and increases the risk of both common and severe infections” (Google, 2025, para. 1). |
Reference list
- The GenAI company name is the organisation or company that created the software, e.g. Anthropic, Google, OpenAI or Perplexity AI.
- The date includes year, month, and day of the specific chat.
- If the GenAI tool does not create a title for the chat, give a short description of the prompt.
- The form in square brackets describes what is being referenced to help the reader understand, e.g. [Generative AI chat].
- Give the URL that links to the individual chat.
- If you use Copilot via the Federation Teams app or copilot.com via a Federation login, you won’t be able to access a sharable link to a specific chat or Copilot in general due to the Enterprise Data Protection policies. When referencing, don't include the URL for a Copilot chat.
| Reference format | Example |
| Template |
AI Company Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of chat [Generative AI chat]. Tool Name and/or Model. URL of the chat |
| Reference list entry |
Google. (2025, November 13). Prevention of infection in patients with type 1 diabetes [Generative AI chat]. Gemini 2.5 Flash. https://gemini.google.com/share/d3cc26afc616 |
Acknowledge your use of AI
Add an acknowledgement and transcript (if required). Include the following details:
- the name/model, and embed URL of the specific chat
- prompts used
- why and how you have used or modified the output
- transcript of your conversation with the tool.
In-text citations
Include the AI Company Name and the year of publication in round brackets.
| Citation format | Example |
| Template | (AI Company Name, Year) |
| Citation entry | Doing short art activities with children such as guessing whether colours are warm or cool, or drawing a symbol that represents themselves can be an excellent way to engage their creativity (Google, 2025). |
Reference list
- The AI Company Name is the organisation or company that created the GenAI tool, e.g. Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, or Perplexity AI.
- The date includes year, month, and day of the specific chat.
- If the GenAI tool does not create a title for the chat, give a short description of the prompt.
- The form in square brackets describes what is being referenced to help the reader understand, e.g. [Generative AI chat].
- Give the URL that links to the individual chat.
- If you use Copilot via the Federation Teams app or copilot.com via a Federation login, you won’t be able to access a sharable link to a specific chat or Copilot in general due to the Enterprise Data Protection policies. When referencing, don't include the URL for a Copilot chat.
| Reference format | Example |
| Template |
AI Company Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of chat [Description e.g., Generative AI chat]. Tool Name/Model. URL of the chat |
| Reference list entry |
OpenAI. (2025, November 20). Art activities for kids [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT-5.1. https://chatgpt.com/c/691e7eb6-4b98-8324-bebd-3ab00455ebef |
Acknowledge your use of GenAI
Undergraduate students: you might be asked to acknowledge your use of GenAI for brainstorming via an acknowledgement and transcript after your reference list.
Include the following details:
- the name/model, and embed URL of the specific chat
- prompts used
- why and how you have used or modified the output
- transcript of your conversation with the tool.
Postgraduate, HDR students and academics: check with your supervisor, Dean of Research, or publisher about acknowledging your use of GenAI.
Typically, you would need to:
- cite your use of GenAI via a discussion and intext citation in the methodology section of your thesis, journal article, or book.
- include a full reference in the reference list.
- include an acknowledgement and transcript to document further details in an appendix or supplementary material.
In-text citations
Refer to the image in your work.
| Citation format | Example |
| Template | (See figure #) |
| In-text citation | (See figure 2) |
Figure and figure notes
| Figure format | Example |
| Template |
Figure #. Description of image. <FIGURE> Note: Image generated using the prompt “Prompt details,” by Name of AI image generator, Year of the version used, URL |
| Figure entry |
Figure 1. Image of young girl in a hospital bed
Note: Image generated using the prompt “I am writing an essay on the experiences of young children in hospital. Create an image of a young girl under 10 years of age. She is laying in a hospital bed with drip in her arm,” by Google, AI image generator, 2025, https://gemini.google.com/share/c315b1bbf1e0 |
Reference list
- The AI Company Name is the organisation or company that created the software, e.g. OpenAI.
- Give the year that the GenAI tool was last updated.
- Type of AI image generator used in square brackets, e.g. [Text to image], [AI image generator], etc.
- Give the URL that links to GenAI model used.
| Reference format | Example |
| Template |
AI Company Name. (Year). Tool Name/Model [Large language model]. URL of the tool |
| Reference list entry |
Google. (2025). Gemini 2.5 Flash [Large language model]. https://gemini.google.com |
You need to cite GenAI use generally when you have used it to:
- edit, organise or refine your writing
- create or edit computer code
- If the code created forms a substantial part of your assessment or thesis, you may need to include a URL to the specific chat. Check with your teacher or supervisor how they would like it cited and acknowledged.
- check grammar, spelling, structure, layout, logical flow of argument, etc.
- translate into another language
- Check copyright if you are translating text from a journal article or book as you may not be able to put the work into a GenAI tool.
In-text citations
When paraphrasing, include the AI Company Name and the year of publication in round brackets.
| Citation format | Example |
| Template | (AI Company Name, Year) |
| Citation entry | I used Gemini Flash 2.5 to obtain suggestions for improvements in spelling, grammar, expression, and the flow of ideas (Google, 2025). |
Reference list
- The AI Company Name is the organisation or company that created the software, e.g. OpenAI.
- Give the year that the GenAI tool was last updated.
- Type of AI image generator used in square brackets, e.g. [Text to image], [AI image generator], etc.
- Give the URL that links to the GenAI model used.
| Reference format | Example |
| Template |
AI Company Name. (Year). Tool Name/Model [Large language model]. URL of the tool |
| Reference list entry |
Google. (2025). Gemini Flash 2.5 [Large language model]. https://www.google.com/ |
In-text citations
| Citation format | Example |
| Paraphrase | The app adopted the Australian Fire Danger Rating System to standardise fire danger ratings for Australia (VicEmergency, Version 6.4.0). |
| Direct quote | Not everything is created in-house, the About Word information acknowledges "Certain templates developed for Microsoft Corporation by Impressa Systems" (Microsoft Word, Version 16.0.4639.1000). |
Reference list
- Only give reference entries for specialised software with limited distribution. No reference entry is needed for standard software and programming languages.
- Give the title of the software followed by the version number in round brackets. Add a description in square brackets after the version number. Give the name of the company and DOI/URL if accessed online.
- If you are referencing or citing artificial intelligence tools, see the Artificial intelligence tools tab.
| Reference format | Example |
| Template | Developer. (Year). Title (Version number) [Form]. Company. URL |
| Reference list entry |
Department of Justice and Regulation. (2023). VicEmergency (Version 6.4.0) [Mobile app]. Apple. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/vicemergency/id356559665?platform=iphone Microsoft Word. (2019). Microsoft Word (Version 16.0.4639.1000) [Computer software]. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com |