How to Cite ChatGPT Deep Research

APA does not currently publish a dedicated example for this exact source type. The format below applies APA's current AI citation principles to this source.

What APA does publish is two worked AI forms: an AI tool — Google. (2025). Gemini 3 Flash [Large language model]. https://gemini.google.com — and an AI chat, which adds the day and a title and moves the tool's name after the brackets. See APA's AI references examples page and its reference-formats post and judge for yourself. The entry below sits between the two: it takes the tool form's year-only date and [Large language model] label, and the chat form's habit of putting a description in the title slot and ChatGPT after the brackets. APA publishes neither combination. It is built from APA's own elements and its own stated rules — the company is the author, the label is adaptable, and the version parenthetical is retired — but the arrangement is Citation[Z]'s, so a marker who wants one of APA's two printed forms is not wrong to ask for it.

And check first whether you need this entry at all. APA's companion post on AI as a search engine says that if you used AI "as a search engine or intermediary to find information, similar to using Google search or a database search, it is in most cases not necessary to cite AI at all" — you cite the sources you went on to read. The entry below is for when the report itself is what you are discussing.

OpenAI → year → report description → [Large language model] → ChatGPT → link. Build it in the generator under Manual Entry → AI tool.

No version parenthetical, and "Deep Research" is not one. APA stopped asking for a version by default in September 2025 and wants the model name if the tool shows you one; Deep Research is a mode of ChatGPT, so it belongs in your description of the report, not in brackets after it. If you can share the report, APA's chat form fits better — see how to cite an AI conversation.

Deep Research is ChatGPT's agentic mode: instead of a quick answer, it spends minutes browsing the web and produces a long, structured report with citations to the sources it found. It reads like a research brief — which is exactly why students lean on it, and why it needs careful citation.

Disclose that you used it. But because the report is built on real sources, the strongest move is usually to verify and cite those directly.

• Cite ChatGPT Deep Research when you're relying on its synthesis or wording.
• Follow its citations. Deep Research lists the sources it used — open them, verify the claim, and cite the original source for any fact. That's what your instructor actually wants.
• Don't trust the summary blindly. AI reports can misread or overstate a source; verifying protects your grade and your credibility.
• Keep your prompt and the date — the report isn't reproducible without them.