The first fossil was found in 1985 by Ouyang Hui at Pengtang near Jinquan and was reported upon in 1986 by Gao Ruiqi and colleagues, mistaking it for a specimen of Tuojiangosaurus.

The name was generally considered a nomen nudum in the West,[3] until in 2006 it was disclosed that the abstract contained a sufficient description.

Public awareness of this animal was increased in early 2006 when Tracy Ford,[5] considering it a validly established taxon, published a short article on reconstructing it.

Susannah Maidment and Wei Guangbiao in 2006 concluded that G. sichuanensis was a valid taxon in their review of Late Jurassic Chinese stegosaurs, but did not redescribe it because at that time it was under study by Zigong Dinosaur Museum staff.

[6] The holotype, ZDM 0019, was found in layers of the Upper Shaximiao Formation of Zigong (Sichuan province), which date to the Oxfordian.

It consists of a partial skeleton of a probably subadult individual missing the skull (though the lower jaws are present), hind feet, and the tail end.