I can’t find the citations that AI gave me. What should I do?
661 views | Last updated on Jul 17, 2026
AI tools make up citations that don't exist.
AI puts together something that looks like a good, probable citation. For example, a tool might offer you citations for articles by a real author that usually writes about your topic, and correctly name an academic journal that publishes articles on your topic, but combine those real pieces of information with a title, page numbers, and dates that are completely fictional. This is because generative AI, or a Large Language Model (LLM), relies on the data it was trained on to come up with answers for you, and is not searching academic databases for actual articles.
You can check to see if citations offered by generative AI are valid by using the Library Search on our homepage or GoogleScholar.
It's better to use AI for tasks like these:
- Brainstorming and getting unstuck
- Editing and constructive criticism of your writing
- Summarizing long texts
Generative AI is not designed to be a search engine. Use Library Search, Google Scholar, or library research databases for your area of study instead.
Adapted from “University of Arizona Libraries, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.”
