Having never previously been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event, Gilbert reached the final of the 2015 International Championship where he lost 5–10 to John Higgins. On 22 January 2019 he hit the milestone of the 147th maximum break in the Championship League. On 4 May 2019 he narrowly missed out on his first ever World Snooker Championship final in a final frame decider, losing out 16–17 to John Higgins. On 13 August 2021 Gilbert won his first world ranking title after 22 years of being a professional by winning the 2021 Championship League after beating Mark Allen 3–1 in the final.