Gul started her education in Sangrur, in Punjab. However, her father’s army career ensured that, she moved to different places across India (and abroad). As a result of this, she studied in 14 different schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas (Chandigarh, Mhow, Leh and Wellington, Tamil Nadu), The Lawrence School, Lovedale and the International School of Lusaka, Zambia. She did her Bachelors in Mathematics from Punjabi University, Patiala, and Masters in Political Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh. As a student, Panag was interested in sports and public speaking. She won numerous state and national level debate competitions, including two gold medals at the Annual National Inter University Debate competition.

Gul won the coveted Miss India title in 1999, and was crowned Miss Beautiful Smile at the same pageant. At the Miss Universe 1999 pageant, she was ranked among the Top 10 contestants. Gul began her career in Bollywood, with the 2003 film Dhoop. Since then, she has worked in films like Jurm (2005) and the TV series Kashmeer. She played a commoner, fighting hard to save her husband from going to the gallows, in the 2006 Nagesh Kukunoor film, Dor. In 2008, she acted in the films Hello and Summer 2007. In 2009, she was seen in the movie Straight. She featured in Rann in a role attempting to stop her boy friend from doing the right thing. Gul appeared on the front page of Maxim with whom she did a photo shoot in September 2008.

Gul has appeared in numerous advertisements on television and print media over the past decade or so (most notably – The Titan Raga watches ads, and most recently in the Tata Sky ads along with Aamir Khan). Gul is the brand ambassador for Tata Sky, along with Aamir Khan.
Gul is techno-savvy, with strong and interesting views on most subjects. She is highly active on Twitter. She was the Twitter Face for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week held in 2009, to cover the happenings/proceedings on the micro-blogging site.
She ran at the Delhi Half Marathon in November 2010, but endured eve teasing from male runners at the event. She later remarked that the attitude of men in Delhi needed to change and that the city was unsafe for women.

Films Done By Gul Panag

2003 Dhoop Peehu A. Verma Hindi
2005 Jurm Sonia Hindi
2006 Dor Zeenat Fatima/Zeenat A. Khan Hindi
2007 Manorama Six Feet Under Nimmi Hindi
2008 Summer 2007 Vishakha Hindi
2008 Hello Priyanka Hindi
2009 Anubhav Meera Hemant Valecha / Meera A. Malhotra Hindi
2009 Straight Renu Hindi
2010 Rann Nandita Sharma Hindi
2010 Hello Darling Mansi Joshi Hindi
2011 Turning 30 Naina Singh Hindi
2011 Phir Zindagi Hindi
2012 Fatso! Nandini Hindi
2013 Sikander Beant Kaur Punjabi
2015 Ab Tak Chhappan 2 Shalu Hindi
2016 Ambarsariya Boss Punjabi
2019 Student of the Year 2 Coach Kuljeet Hindi
2019 Bypass Road Romila Hindi

Television and Web series Done by Gul Panag

2019 Kashmeer Zoya
2019 Khoobsurat Presenter
2019 Kismey Kitnaa Hai Dam Presenter
2019 Musafir Hoon Yaaron Presenter
2019 Vijay Jyoti Jyoti
2019 The Family Man Saloni Amazon Web series
2019 Rangbaaz Phirse Anupriya
2019 Paatal Lok Renu Chaudhary Amazon Web series
2019 Pawan and Pooja Pooja Mehra