It is known from a single holotype skeleton called IVPP V 8808, described in 1991 from the lower Ermaying Formation in Shanxi.

The lower Ermaying Formation dates back to the Olenekian stage of the Early Triassic, making Guchengosuchus one of the earliest archosauriforms.

[1] IVPP V 8808 is a disarticulated skeleton including a partial skull, lower jaw, some vertebrae, a scapula, and forelimb bones.

Like some other erythrosuchids, Guchengosuchus has a tall skull with a notch between the premaxilla and maxilla bones of the upper jaw.

Proterosuchia is now considered a paraphyletic assemblage of basal archosauriforms representing a series of successive branches of stem group archosaurs.