Gu Ailing's father is American, and her mother Gu Yan is from Beijing. She graduated from Peking University in China and later went to the United States to study, where she received an MBA from Stanford University and was a ski instructor.

Grandpa Gu Zhenguang was once the main player in football at a prestigious Chinese school; Grandma Feng Guozhen is a retired cadre of the Ministry of Transport. Gu Ailing often returned to Beijing with her mother for vacation, and Gu Yan paid special attention to educating Gu Ailing in Chinese and traditional Chinese culture.

Therefore, Gu Ailing, who has been hanging out in the alleys of Beijing since she was a child, is fluent in Chinese and has quite authentic tongue twisters. She also calls herself a Beijing girl who grew up in the alleys.

On June 6, 2019, 15-year-old Gu Ailing announced through social media that she had officially changed to Chinese nationality and posted "Chinese freestyle skier Gu Ailing reports."

According to the official website of the International Snow Federation (FIS), Gu Ailing’s registered nationality with FIS was changed from the United States to China in June 2019.

Gu Ailing studied at the University of San Francisco High School in the United States. On October 19, 2020, Gu Ailing received the results of the American College Entrance Examination SAT. The total SAT score was 1,600 points, and Gu Ailing scored 1,580 points. On December 14, 2020, Gu Ailing announced that she had been admitted to Stanford University in the United States.

On July 1, 2023, Gu Ailing posted on her social platform to reveal that the first year of freshman classes was over. She wrote: In the first year, she took a total of 52 credits including quantum physics, economics, philosophy, political science, psychology, nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine, etc. (36 credits for full-time students), and got all A's.

Running, basketball, piano, skiing... Gu Ailing has a wide range of hobbies and is also an athlete, student, and model. Gu Ailing shared her tips for balancing hobbies and careers.

The first is to eat well; the second is to have love; the third is to devote yourself 100% to one thing and then move on to the next after finishing it. Don’t do one thing while thinking about other things. You may only be able to do one thing a day. It's something, but it must be done well.

On the morning of January 2, 2022, at the 2021-2022 Freestyle Skiing World Cup U-shaped track in Calgary, Canada, Gu Ailing successfully won the championship with a score of 92.80 on his second jump.

On January 7, the 2021-2022 World Cup Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe Competition ended at the Mammoth Mountain Station in the United States for the women’s qualifying round. Gu Ailing ranked first with 90 points. In the 2021-22 Freestyle Skiing World Cup Mammoth Mountain Station in the United States, Gu Ailing won the championship in the women's U-shaped field final with 97.50 points. ​

Gu Ailing won all four World Cup U-shaped field competitions in the 2021-22 season and won the crystal ball symbolizing the season championship. On January 9, Gu Ailing performed stably in the slope obstacle skills event at Mammoth Mountain Station in the United States of the FIS World Cup and won the runner-up.

In January 2022, he qualified for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and will compete in three events: U-shaped field, slope obstacle course, and big platform. On January 27, 2022, the Chinese sports delegation to participate in the 24th Winter Olympics was officially established. Gu Ailing was selected into the freestyle skiing U-shaped field team, freestyle skiing big jump, and slope obstacle skills team. ​

On February 7, Gu Ailing successfully entered the finals in the women's big jump freestyle skiing qualifying competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics in fifth place. On February 8, Gu Ailing competed in the women's freestyle skiing big platform final. In the first round of the final, Gu Ailing temporarily ranked second with 93.75 points.

In the third round, Gu Ailing scored a high score of 94.5 points with a difficult move of 1620 degrees of double deflection to the left and a safe grab. With her outstanding performance in these two rounds, Gu Ailing finally won the freestyle skiing women's big platform gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics with 188.25 points.