Direct answer
In Turnitin's AI writing report, an asterisk (*) in place of a percentage means the AI writing score is below 20%. Turnitin hides every result between 1% and 19% behind the asterisk bucket and only displays an exact 0% as a number, because sub-20% scores lack the statistical signal to be reported as precise figures [1]. In practice, a * result means the report found no strong indication of AI-generated writing, placing your draft in the lowest-risk category the tool shows.
Why Does Turnitin Show an Asterisk Instead of an AI Writing Score?
The percentage in the AI writing report estimates how much of a document may have been produced by an AI tool such as ChatGPT or Claude. When that estimate lands below the 20% threshold, Turnitin deliberately does not print a single-digit or low two-digit number on the report. Instead, the overall AI indicator renders as an asterisk (*), with the report's guidance explaining that a score below 20% is not displayed as a numeric value [2].
Turnitin's documentation for the AI writing report explains why this suppression exists: in the low range, detection results sit too close to the model's margin of error to be quoted with confidence, so publishing a number such as 12% would overstate precision [2]. An exact 0% is the single exception, because zero carries a clean meaning: no AI-written text was detected. Every percentage from 1% to 19% therefore collapses into the same asterisk bucket.
The asterisk can also appear elsewhere in the same report. Sentence-level highlights that fall in the low-confidence band are marked rather than treated as strong signals, and instructors see the identical display in their institutional account because the report mirrors the version inside their LMS.
The important reading habit is to treat * correctly: it is not an error code, a missing score, or a warning flag. It is Turnitin's standardized way of saying "below 20%, no strong AI signal." Once you internalize that rule, the rest of the report becomes much easier to interpret.
Is an Asterisk the Same as a 0% AI Score on Turnitin, and Does It Mean My Paper Is Safe?
Strictly speaking, no: 0% and * are two different displays, but they belong to the same low band. Turnitin's AI writing detection guidance treats anything under 20% as showing no significant amount of AI-generated text, which is why both a 0% and an asterisk tend to be read the same way by reviewers [3].
The asterisk does not mean "no AI was used" — it means the detector did not find enough AI-like signal to report a defensible percentage [3]. A heavily paraphrased AI draft, or a paper that only uses small AI-assisted passages, can still land below 20%, so the symbol is a statement about detectability rather than about your writing process.
For submission risk, a * result is the most favorable outcome the AI indicator can offer: it gives an instructor no statistical basis to raise an AI-writing concern. That said, it is not a blanket guarantee of safety, because reviewers can still weigh your similarity score, citation quality, and drafting history alongside the indicator.
If your goal is simply to know whether your draft sits in that low-risk band before it is graded, the useful habit is to generate your own real report and read the AI field yourself rather than relying on second-hand screenshots.
How Can I Check My Own Turnitin AI Score Before Submitting?
Turnitin's help documentation points out that AI writing detection is normally triggered when an instructor opens a submission in the assignment inbox, which means many students first see their score only after the deadline has passed [4]. Checking earlier requires either institution-enabled student access to the tool or an independent pre-submission report.
If your university has turned on student visibility for the AI writing report, you may be able to open your own draft submissions in the LMS and read the indicator before the due date [4]. If it has not, the practical route is a checking service that runs the genuine Turnitin AI writing and similarity reports on your file and returns the same cover page, score, and flags an instructor would see.
Whichever route you use, apply the same decoding rules: an asterisk or 0% puts you in the below-20% band with no strong AI signal, while any visible double-digit percentage is a signal you can still act on. Because results like these normally arrive in minutes, a pre-submission check leaves you time to revise flagged sections instead of discovering the outcome only after submission.
If you want to know exactly what your own draft shows before it reaches your instructor's inbox — whether that is a clean 0%, a reassuring asterisk, or a double-digit percentage you still have time to fix — turnitin0 runs the same real Turnitin AI writing and similarity reports that professors see in their institutional systems. A check takes only minutes and returns the actual report cover, score, flags, and similarity summary for your file, so you never have to guess what a symbol on someone else's screenshot means for your grade.
※ Turnitin0.com - Actual Turnitin AI Report Cover, Score, Flag And Similarity Summary
FAQ
Does an asterisk on a Turnitin AI report mean my paper was written by AI?
No. The asterisk means the estimated AI-written percentage is below 20%, the range Turnitin treats as showing no significant amount of AI-generated text [1]. It is the low-risk side of the indicator, not an accusation.
Why does Turnitin show * instead of my exact score, like 8%?
Turnitin only displays an exact 0% as a numeric low score; results from 1% to 19% are shown as * because scores in that range are too close to the detection margin of error to quote precisely [2]. The asterisk is a deliberate accuracy safeguard rather than a placeholder for a hidden number.
Is 0% better than *?
Functionally, they sit in the same below-20% band. 0% explicitly means no AI-written text was detected, while * means the estimate was under 20% but not exactly zero; reviewers generally treat both as low-risk results [3].
Can my instructor see a different score than the * I see?
No. The AI writing report mirrors what instructors see in their institutional systems, so a * display on your side is the same * display on theirs [2]. Neither side receives a numeric value below 20% except 0%.
What should I do if my report shows a number above 20% instead of *?
A visible percentage at or above 20% means the detector found a meaningful share of AI-like text, and this is the score instructors are most likely to act on. Rewrite the flagged sections in your own words, then re-run a fresh report to confirm the indicator drops into the * or 0% band before submitting [4].