The role was created by Dena Higley and Christopher Whitesell, and originated by actress Gabriela Rodriguez on November 20, 2009.

Originally described as a sweet, innocent, and loving girl, a number of events since Gabi's arrival on the series have altered her personality.

Her storylines have included the death of her sister Arianna Hernandez (Lindsay Hartley), her first love (Will Horton) coming to terms that he is gay, and romances with Chad DiMera (Casey Deidrick/Billy Flynn), Nick Fallon (Blake Berris), JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss), Eli Grant (Lamon Archey), Stefan DiMera (Tyler Christopher/ Brandon Barash) and Jake Lambert (also Barash).

Other storylines have included killing Nick, giving birth to Will's daughter, Arianna Horton, going to prison several times, being wrongly accused and imprisoned for the murder of André DiMera and her feuds with Chad, Abigail Deveraux, Julie Olson Williams and Lani Price, amongst others.

Banus' portrayal of Gabi earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2015.

[...] I ended up talking with the casting director for a while and she just kind of explained to me about the character [...] The next day I got called for a callback and that was that.

[3][9] Explaining her being hired by Days of our Lives, Banus said that two months after her initial audition she was again offered the role of Gabi by its casting director due to the character being aged, but rejected them because of other career projects.

[16] In April 2024, Cherie Jimenez was cast in a then-undisclosed role, leading to speculation the character of Gabi had been recast.

"[4] Rodriguez said that she is sensitive, has a strong personality and shows her soft side with people she's "comfortable with", and believed these were all traits Gabi has.

[20] Gabi has three siblings: Rafe (Galen Gering), Arianna (Lindsay Hartley) and Dario Hernandez (Francisco San Martin).

"[20] Banus loves playing the "evil bitch"-type character,[9] and had that opportunity when Gabi underwent a personality change in 2012.

About.com said that she was "the epitome of sweetness and light" but a rocky road led by finding out her first love Will Horton (Chandler Massey) was gay lead the character to undergo a "major personality switch".

"[24] In January 2012, the romance was re-visited in a storyline which Deidrick felt that the writers dropped their brief past, and "You'd never know that happened if you were tuning into Days for the first time now.

"[19] She also noted during an interview with TV Guide that "Gabi is attracted to Chad and she sees this modeling thing as a way to be near him."

"[23] Banus called her attraction to Chad a "rebound" from Will; Deidrick said "He's oblivious to her feelings, which is hard because Camila is such a beautiful woman.

[3] Following Arianna's tragic death, Gabi leaned on her sister-in-law Sami Brady's (Alison Sweeney) son, Will Horton (Chandler Massey) for support.

[3] During an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Banus explained their relationship: "Since both Gabi and Nick were in such dark places in their lives, they don't trust what is happening to them...

Rafe and Arianna felt that they were being stalked while at the Brady pub, but were shocked to find out that Gabi had come to Salem and was spying on them.

Gabi earned a job at Quinn Hudson's (Bren Foster) Intensity Day Spa and developed another crush on Chad, and began scheming to break him and his girlfriend Melanie Jonas (Molly Burnett) up.

On the day of Arianna's christening, Nick showed up at the ceremony alive, and lied about the events that happened that night.

She also admitted her role in Melanie's kidnapping and told Marlena about her, Kate and Sami throwing Nick in the river.

EJ, who served as Gabi's lawyer, thought it would be better for her to have a plea deal than go to trial and have the truth about Melanie's kidnapping come out.

Gabi is released from prison in September 2015 and shares a happy reunion with Rafe, Will and Arianna thanks to an error made in her sentencing.

As Gabi settles back into her life and relaunches her modeling career when Kate hires her at Basic Black working opposite retired baseball player Paul Narita (Christopher Sean), she is devastated when Will is murdered by a serial killer.

In December 2015, Gabi bonds with JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) and they begin dating, but the romance is short-lived and he had cheated on her with Abe's daughter, Lani.

In 2016, her best friend Abigail Devereaux DiMera (JJ's sister) is presumed dead, and Gabi later begins a relationship with her husband Chad.

After JJ accidentally shot Theo Carver (Kyler Pettis), he struggled with the guilt and planned to commit suicide.

The missing lid showed up in Gabi's purse and she attempted to get rid of it, but Lani caught her and arrested her.

"[20] Banus' portrayal of Gabi earned her a nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series at the 42nd Daytime Emmy Awards in 2015.

"[39] On December 14, 2024, Soap Opera News named the casting of Jimenez as Gabi as their top recast of the year, sharing the recognition with Alexa Havins Bruening as Lulu Spencer on General Hospital.