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AI Literacy and Ethics

Citing AI

Before using generative AI, check in with your professor and refer to your course syllabus to determine whether or not the use of generative AI is permitted. You can also refer to the University's Academic Honesty policy. 

If you reuse or paraphrase information from a generative AI program, you need to cite that information as you would with any other source. If you use generative AI tools to brainstorm ideas, generate an outline, proofread your papers (i.e. Grammarly), then you need to acknowledge your use. 

Citation Styles

APA Style suggests this template for citing generative AI prompts and information. 

AI Company Name. (year, month day). Title of chat in italics [Description, such as Generative AI chat]. Tool Name/Model. URL of the chat

Parenthetical citation: (AI Company Name, year)

Narrative citation: AI Company Name (year)

 

Here are some example citations:

  1. Anthropic. (2025, May 20). Essential grammar topics for high school graduates [Generative AI chat]. Claude Sonnet 4. https://claude.ai/share/329173b2-ec93-4663-ac68-4f65ea4f166d
  2. Google. (2025, May 22). High school grammar concepts overview [Generative AI chat]. Gemini 2.5 Flash. https://g.co/gemini/share/a1306ce12929
  3. OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311
  4. Perplexity AI. (2025, May 20). High school grammar topics [Generative AI chat]. Perplexity. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/a457cb8c-c663-4c9b-b34e-cb03d8108b35

 

Parenthetical citations: (Anthropic, 2025; Google, 2025; OpenAI, 2025; Perplexity AI, 2025)

Narrative citations: Anthropic (2025), Google (2025), OpenAI (2025), and Perplexity AI (2025)

MLA has a number of recommendations for citing AI in MLA Style. 

Here are the key components to use in your citation:

  • 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 specific AI model or model version as specifically as possible. For instance, the examples in this post were developed using the GPT-4o model of ChatGPT.
  • Publisher
    • Name the company that made the tool.
  • Date
    • Give the date the content was generated.
  • Location
    • Give the stable, shareable URL for accessing the generated content (e.g., text, an image, etc.). For example, tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E allow you to share a link by clicking the Share link at the top of the chat conversation. If the tool you are using doesn’t provide a stable, shareable URL, provide the general URL for the tool.

Here is an example citation:

  1. “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.
    • In-text citation for quoted/paraphrased content: (“Describe the theme”).

 

The Chicago Manual of Style sums up their guidance around citing the use of AI as:

You must credit ChatGPT when you reproduce its words within your own work, but unless you include a publicly available URL, that information should be put in the text or in a note—not in a bibliography or reference list.

Notes Style

Numbered footnote or endnote example (if you have a publicly available URL):

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

Author-Date Style

Sample in-text citation: “(ChatGPT, March 7, 2023)”

Acknowledging AI Use

"If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction." - APA Style

Permanent Links to Generative AI Conversations

Most citation styles recommend treating generative AI sources like personal communications because, like emails, interviews, and other similar forms of communication, generative AI conversations are generally nonrecoverable (i.e., they cannot be duplicated or accessed and evaluated by others). Since you can't recreate AI conversations, it is important to create a permanent link to any generative AI discussions that you use for your research. 

Creating Permanent Links

Choosing an Account

You need to log in to create a shareable permanent link to your ChatGPT conversation.

If you plan to share the permanent link with others (e.g., for a class assignment), we recommend using a personal account to create the link.

If you are creating a permanent link for your own use, we recommend using your free ChatGPT EDU account provided by California State University, which ensures that conversations with ChatGPT are not used to train OpenAI's generative AI models. 

Note: Permanent links created with your Cal State LA ChatGPT Edu account can only be accessed by other people who have a Cal State LA ChatGPT Edu account.

Steps with Personal Account

  1. Log in to your personal ChatGPT account.
  2. Complete your conversation with ChatGPT.
  3. When you're ready to share your conversation, look for the share option on the top right-hand side of ChatGPT. Click on Share.

ChatGPT personal account conversation with a golden arrow pointed to share

  1. A new small window should open where you'll have the option to copy the link. Click Copy link. 
  2. You can now copy the link to use in your reference or share the conversation with others. 
  3. Do not delete the conversation in your chat history. If you delete the conversation in your chat history, the link will no longer work for others to access the conversation.

Steps with Cal State LA Account

  1. Log in to your Cal State LA ChatGPT Edu account with your Cal State LA Outlook email. If you don't have an account already, you can access the CSU-wide license to ChatGPT EDU through your "My Cal State LA" portal under the "Software & Tools" section.
  2. Complete your conversation with ChatGPT.
  3. When you're ready to share your conversation, look for the share option on the top right-hand side of ChatGPT. Click on Share.A golden arrow pointing towards a share button.
  4. A new small window should open where you'll have the option to copy the link. Click Copy link. 
  5. You can now copy the link to use in your reference or share the conversation with others. 
  6. Do not delete the conversation in your chat history. If you delete the conversation in your chat history the link will no longer work for others to access the conversation.

Choosing an Account

While you can create permanent links without an account with Microsoft CoPilot, we recommend creating it without an account or with a personal account. You can not create a permanent link with your Cal State LA Co-Pilot Account.

Steps with No Account or a Personal Account

  1. Log in to your personal CoPilot account.
  2. Complete your conversation with CoPilot.
  3. When you're ready to share your conversation, look for that icon underneath your conversation that looks like an arrow coming out of a square. Click on the arrow icon.A copilot conversation response with a golden arrow pointing to share.
  4. A new small window will open. Click on copy link.

a conversation with the AI CoPilot with a golden arrow pointing to the copy link button.

  1. Once you've copied the link, you can now paste it into any document. 

Account

You need an account with Gemini to create permanent links. You can create an account for free.

Steps with Personal Account

  1. Log in to your personal Gemini account.
  2. Complete your conversation with Gemini.
  3. When you're ready to share your conversation, look for the share option underneath your conversation in Gemini. You'll want to click on the share option that looks like three circles connected by two lines.A conversation with the AI Gemini with a golden arrow pointing to the share option.
  4. A new small window should open where you'll have the option to copy the link. Click on "Share Conversations".

 

A conversation with the AI Gemini where the share conversation menu is displayed with a golden arrow pointed to the share conversation option.

  1. Another new window will open and the permalink with automatically be copied so that you can now paste it. You can also use the "Copy Link" option to re-copy the permalink. Note: If you delete the chat history in Gemini, you will no longer be able to use the permalink.

A small window from the AI Gemini with a golden arrow pointing to the copy link button.

Choosing an Account

You can create links with and without a Perplexity account. However, links created without an account will expire after 14 days. In order to create a permanent link, you need to have a Perplexity account. 

Steps

  1. Log in to your personal Perplexity account.
  2. Complete your conversation with Perplexity.
  3. When you're ready to share your conversation, look for the share option at the top-right of your conversation with Perplexity. Click on "Share".

A conversation with the AI Perplexity with a golden arrow pointing to share.

  1. A new small window will open and the permalink will automatically be copied. Anyone can use the permalink to see your conversation, but you'll also see the option to make the permalink private where only you can use it. A conversation with Perplexity AI with a purple box surrounding to share options, private and anyone with the link.
  2. If you need to copy the permalink again, you can use the "Copy Link" button below the sharing options.

Create an Account

You need an account to use Claude. You can create an account for free.

Steps

  1. Log in to your Claude account. 
  2. Complete your conversation with Claude. 
  3. When you're ready to share, click the "Share" button on the top-right hand side of the screen.

A conversation with the AI Claude with a golden arrow pointed at the share button.

  1. A new small window will open where you can choose for the link to be Private or Public Access. Choose a privacy option and then click "Create Share Link." 

A conversation with claude with the share chat box open. A golden arrow is pointed to the create share link option.

  1. The small window will update and you can now copy the link to share it. 

A conversation with AI Claude with the share chat window open. A golden arrow is pointed at the copy link button.

Create an Account

You need an account to use Elicit and create a permanent link. You can create an account for free.

Steps

  1. Log in to your Elicit account. 
  2. Complete your conversation with Elicit. 
  3. When you're ready to share, click the "Share" button on the top-right hand side of the screen.

The AI Elicit with a golden arrow pointing to the share button.

  1. A new smaller window will open. In this window, toggle it so that anyone with the link can view the conversation. Next, click the "Copy link" button.

A conversation with the AI Elicit, with the share menu open. One golden arrow is pointing to the copy link buttton and anotehr to the toggle that allows anyone to view the link.

Account

You do not need an account to create permanent links with Consensus. However, having an account will allow you to retrieve the permanent link later if you lose it.

Steps

  1. Complete your conversation with Consensus. 
  2. Look for the share button on the top right-hand side of the screen and click it. 

A conversation with Consensus AI with a golden arrow pointing to the share button.

  1. A new smaller window will open in the corner of the screen. Make sure the public visibility option is selected. Next, select "Copy thread link."

A conversation with the AI consensus. A golden arrow is pointing to the public thread visibility option. Another golden arrow is pointing to the copy thread link button.

  1. The link has now been copied and you can share it. 

 

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