How to Cite a Website in Chicago
Updated September 2026
Citing a website in Chicago comes down to one template and a handful of rules. Below: the exact 17th edition format, a real example produced by our citation engine, and the in-text form — or paste your source into the generator and copy the finished citation.
The Chicago format
Author Last, First. “Title of the Page.” Site Name. Month Day, Year. URL.
Chicago (17th edition) formats a web page reference as shown above. A real example, generated by our citation engine:
Alvarez, Maria. "How memory consolidation works during sleep." Science Daily. March 18, 2024. https://www.sciencedaily.com/memory-consolidation-sleep.
In-text(Alvarez 2024)
Finding the pieces
Or skip the hunt: Paste the page's full URL into the generator's Website URL tab, and every field is filled from the source's own record — then select Chicago on the result.
- Author — the article's byline, or the organization for institutional pages
- Date — under the byline or at the article's end ("Last updated…")
- Page title — the on-page headline, not the browser tab text
- Site name — the publication's brand (Science Daily), not the domain
Chicago's formatting rules at work
- First author inverted, additional authors in natural order
- Titles use Title Case; articles in quotes, containers in italics
- Reads like prose: the year sits in parentheses before the page range for articles
- Pairs with footnotes — the same data in sentence form with commas
Website-specific pitfalls
- Cite the specific page you used, never the homepage
- If the author and site name are identical (a CDC page by the CDC), most styles drop one to avoid repetition
- Pages with no date: APA uses (n.d.), Harvard (no date), MLA leans on the access date
In-text citations in Chicago
Chicago's notes-bibliography system cites with footnotes: a superscript number in the text pointing to a note with the source details and page. The bibliography entry shown here contains everything the footnote needs — un-invert the author's name and swap most periods for commas to form the note.
No author? The note and bibliography entry begin with the title; alphabetize by it (ignoring A/An/The).
Building the Bibliography
Every in-text citation pairs with a full entry on the Bibliography page, alphabetized by author. Add each citation to your bibliography as you generate it, and the Bibliography Builder assembles and exports the finished page to Word with the title, ordering, and indentation Chicago requires.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- What's the basic Chicago format for a website?
- Author Last, First. “Title of the Page.” Site Name. Month Day, Year. URL. — see the worked example above, generated by the same engine that powers the free citation tool.
- Do I need an access date?
- Depends on the style: Harvard always, IEEE parenthetically, MLA when undated or changing, APA only for content designed to change, Chicago when no publish date exists. The generator applies the right rule automatically.
- How do I cite a website in Chicago in-text?
- With a footnote: a superscript number pointing to a note with the source details and the specific page.
- Can I get this citation in other styles too?
- Yes — every result in the generator renders APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE simultaneously. Generate once, switch styles with one click.