If you are writing an academic essay or a heavily researched business report in Google Docs, you must cite your sources. Historically, this meant opening a separate web browser tab, searching for an article, copying the URL, returning to Google Docs, manually creating a footnote, and painstakingly formatting the citation in APA or MLA style. Instead, you can use a hidden, AI-powered integration called the “Explore Tool” to search the internet and perfectly format your footnotes without ever leaving your document.
What is the Explore Tool?
The Explore Tool is essentially a miniaturized version of the Google Search engine built directly into the sidebar of Google Docs. It allows you to search the entire internet for reference material and, with a single click, instantly generate a perfectly formatted footnote at the bottom of your page.
How to Search and Cite
- Open your Google Docs document.
- Look at the very bottom right corner of the screen. You will see a small, star-shaped icon labeled Explore. Click it.
- A search panel will slide out on the right side of your screen. In the search bar at the top, type the subject you are researching (e.g., “History of the printing press”) and press Enter.
- The panel will populate with live search results from the web. Read through the snippets to find the specific website you want to reference.
Inserting the Automated Footnote
Once you have found the correct source, inserting the citation takes one second.
- Place your blinking cursor in your document exactly where you want the tiny footnote number to appear (usually at the end of a sentence).
- Hover your mouse over the search result in the Explore panel.
- A small quotation mark icon (“) will appear in the top right corner of the search result. When you hover over it, it will say “Cite as footnote.”
- Click that quotation mark icon.
Google Docs will instantly insert a tiny superscript number into your text, automatically create a divider line at the very bottom of the page, and instantly generate a perfectly formatted citation containing the author, title, publication date, and URL. If you need a specific academic format, click the three vertical dots next to the Explore search bar to instantly switch between MLA, APA, or Chicago citation styles.