In the petroleum industry, the CO₂ flooding technology plays an important role in many EOR methods. In recent years, CO₂ flooding technology has attracted more attention because of its positive contribution to carbon storage, but CO₂ injection will greatly increase the risk of corrosion failure of oil casing, and the development of corrosion inhibitors and the research on inhibition mechanism have achieved certain results. The research progress of organic corrosion inhibitors was systematically summarized from the perspective of the inhibition mechanism of organic corrosion inhibitors on CO₂ corrosion in the petroleum industry. The adsorption, reinforcement, bridging and hydrophobic film formation mechanisms of organic corrosion inhibitors were mainly introduced. The inhibition effects of organic amines, imidazolines, surfactants, polymers and carbon dots on CO₂ corrosion were compared and analyzed from the mechanism of functional groups and metal surfaces. The research on the inhibition mechanism of organic corrosion inhibitors in CO₂ environment and the development trend and focus of corrosion inhibitors were prospected.