How to Cite an AI-Generated Image
Updated June 2026
Citing an image you made with Midjourney, DALL·E, or another generator? Here's the exact format in APA, MLA, and Chicago — plus the part that trips everyone up: there's no human artist to name.
The short version: treat the AI tool as the author, describe the image (or use your prompt) as the title, add the model version and the [AI-generated image] label, and finish with the link where the image lives.
The format
Tool (as author) → date → a short description of the image → (model version) → [AI-generated image] → where it lives. The generator builds this from Manual Entry → AI-generated image.
Midjourney. (2026, March 12). Bioluminescent forest at night (v6.1) [AI-generated image]. Midjourney. https://www.midjourney.com/jobs/9f2a-bio-forest
Midjourney. "Bioluminescent forest at night." Midjourney, 12 Mar. 2026, https://www.midjourney.com/jobs/9f2a-bio-forest. Accessed 1 June 2026.
Midjourney. "Bioluminescent forest at night." Midjourney. March 12, 2026. https://www.midjourney.com/jobs/9f2a-bio-forest.
What counts as an AI-generated image — and why you're citing it now
An AI-generated image is a picture produced by a text-to-image model (Midjourney, DALL·E, Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion, Google Imagen) from a written prompt. By 2026 these are everywhere in coursework — slide decks, posters, mock-ups, illustrations — and that's exactly why citation matters now: more instructors require you to disclose AI use, and an AI image has no human creator to credit, so leaving it uncited reads as passing off generated work as your own.
Citing it does two things: it gives proper provenance (which tool, which version, when), and it protects you under your school's academic-integrity policy. When in doubt, cite and add a short note in your text describing how you generated it.
The pieces
- Author — the tool or the company behind it (e.g., Midjourney, OpenAI, Adobe). There's no human artist, so the model stands in as author.
- Description / title — a short, plain description of the image, or the prompt you used. APA italicizes it; describe rather than invent a fancy title.
- Version — the model version (v6.1, DALL·E 3, Firefly Image 3) so the citation pins what actually made the image.
- [AI-generated image] — the bracketed label that tells the reader this isn't a photograph or a human work.
- Source & link — where it lives (the tool, a share link, or your appendix) and the date you generated/accessed it.
The hard part: who is the "author"?
There's no settled rule yet — which is precisely why this is confusing. The widely-taught, defensible approach is to treat the AI tool as the author (the way APA already treats ChatGPT as authored by OpenAI). You are the prompter, not the author, so your prompt belongs in the description or a note, not the author slot.
Some instructors prefer you treat the image as a figure with a caption and an in-text note instead of a formal reference. Both are reasonable — check your assignment, and whichever you use, keep the tool, version, and date. Official guidance is still catching up: see the APA Style blog and the MLA Style Center.
Citing a specific tool
Each generator has its own quirks (versions, attribution, share links). Use the tool-specific guides: Midjourney, DALL·E, and Adobe Firefly.
Keep every citation you make.
A free account saves your citation history and organizes sources into projects with notes and tags.
Create a free account →Find the sources you should be citing.
Premium searches 250 million scholarly works by topic, recommends citations for your claims, and flags statements in your writing that need support.
Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- Who is the author of an AI-generated image?
- The AI tool or the company behind it (e.g., Midjourney, OpenAI, Adobe). There's no human artist, so the model stands in as author; you are the prompter, which belongs in the description or a note.
- Do I put my prompt in the citation?
- Yes — use it as the description/title or include it in a note. The prompt is what makes the result reproducible, so it's worth recording.
- Should I cite an AI image or just add a caption?
- Either can be correct. Many instructors accept a figure caption with a note on how it was generated; others want a full reference. Check your assignment, and always keep the tool, version, and date.
- What if there's no public URL for the image?
- Use the tool's name as the source and note the access date. If the image only exists in your project, say so and include it in an appendix or figure.