Less than five months ago at the qualifiers in Hobart, the Perth native was a squad member yet to play a Cup tie but is now Australia's top-ranked player for the Melbourne clash this week.
That comes on the back of a stunning start to the year with the 21-year-old rocketing from world No.119 to 56 since January, and the injury-enforced withdrawal of world No.30 Maya Joint.
Kimberly Birrell is set to be Australia's other singles player with Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez teaming up for doubles.
Gibson became the youngest player in seven years to reach a quarter-final in her WTA 1000 debut last month, capping a whirlwind run which saw her down five top 20-ranked players.
"It's still going to be a little while until I fully process it and get used to that feeling of really being inside top 100," Gibson said.
"It was just really exciting for me to have been able to tick off so many awesome goals, and I'm just really proud of where I am right now."
The visitors will be without their four best players with Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Francesca Jones opting to avoid the long-haul flight to Australia and instead focus on the European clay-court swing.
British No. 2 Sonay Kartal was forced out with a back injury.
Gibson said there was no temptation to skip the tie to try to keep her momentum on the WTA Tour.
"Not at all, it was an immediate yes for me to be on the team and it always will (be)," she said.
"There's no greater honour than being able to represent your country so when that call came through from Sam (Stosur), it was like ... I still get chills when I get asked that question so I was full of excitement and immediately was like, 'I'm definitely playing'.
Gibson said her rise through the rankings, and most notably her victory over Italian world No.8 Jasmine Paolini at Indian Wells last month, had fuelled her belief in leading Australia to victory.
A win against the third-ranked Brits will see Australia qualify for the top-eight finals in China in September, with their last appearance in Glasgow in 2022.
"Over the last month I've definitely been able to gain a lot more confidence with how I've been playing and the results that I've had," Gibson said.
"It's just been really exciting for me to now bring that confidence in the tie here."
