# How HidenGPT cites only the sources you give it · HidenGPT > The Essay format cites only the sources you paste, in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago or Harvard. A citation it can't match becomes a [source] placeholder, not a guess. Source: https://hidengpt.com/help/cite-only-your-sources # How HidenGPT cites only the sources you give it Updated October 6, 2026 HidenGPT's Essay format cites only the works you list under “Sources & notes”, in one of 4 styles: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago (author-date) or Harvard. After drafting, every author-year citation is checked against your list, and one it can't match becomes a [source] placeholder instead of a made-up reference. ## Steps - 01 Paste the assignment brief into the composer and pick “Essay” under “Use it for” (it's under “More” if you don't see it). - 02 Set “Citations” to “APA 7”, “MLA 9”, “Chicago (author-date)” or “Harvard”. - 03 Open “Sources & notes”, list each source with the notes or quotes you'll use, and click “Done”. - 04 Click “Write it”, then search the draft for [source] and either add a source you've read or cut the claim. ## How the citation check works A check runs after every pass: the draft, the red pen and any fixes. For each author-year citation, such as (Wardle, 2019) or (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017, p. 4), it looks for the author's surname in “Sources & notes”, and a citation whose author isn't there is replaced with [source]. Narrative citations that don't match, like Wardle et al. (2019), go back to the model for a rewrite. If you picked a style and gave sources, the draft ends with a reference list of only the cited works. No sources? Then any reference list is removed, even one the model wrote. ## The [source] placeholder Where a claim needs evidence you didn't give, the essay writes [source] and keeps the claim modest. In a Turkish draft it reads [kaynak]. With “Citations” on “None”, the rule still holds. Citations, placeholders and the reference list pass through the red pen exactly as written. ## What to include for each source Give the author or authors, year, title, publisher or journal (with volume, issue and pages) and a URL or DOI. Under each, paste the notes or quotes you'll use, with page numbers. A title alone gives the writer nothing to cite, since it can only say what you paste. Put sources in “Sources & notes”, not only in the “Notes” control. Only “Sources & notes” is read by the citation check, so a source that sits in “Notes” counts as missing. ## What it doesn't do - It doesn't find or read sources for you, and it doesn't open links: a URL is only text to it. - The check matches author names. Years, titles and page numbers are yours to verify against your style guide. - MLA author-page citations such as (Wardle 12), and a single name before a year such as Wardle (2019), aren't checked automatically. - Chicago is supported in author-date form only, with no footnotes. - There's no plagiarism checker. ## Questions ### Will it make up a reference if I give no sources? No. Claims that need evidence get a [source] placeholder, and no reference list is kept. ### Which citation styles are supported? APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago (author-date) and Harvard. Pick “None” if the assignment doesn't need citations. ## Related - [How to set an exact word count](https://hidengpt.com/help/set-an-exact-word-count) - [How the Answer questions mode works](https://hidengpt.com/help/answer-homework-questions) - [I need an AI essay writer that only uses the sources I give it and doesn't make up citations.](https://hidengpt.com/write/essay-with-real-citations) - [I have to write a 1,000-word essay. How long is that and how do I structure it?](https://hidengpt.com/write/1000-word-essay) - [How do I write an essay in my own words?](https://hidengpt.com/guides/how-to-write-an-essay-in-your-own-words) [Add HidenGPT as a preferred source on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=hidengpt.com) to see it more often in search and AI Overviews.