Our study aims to investigate the relationship between lncRNA GAPLINC and survival and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its influence on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells. HCC tissues and cells were obtained for detecting the expression of GAPLINC, and the relationship between GAPLINC and prognosis of patients with HCC was also explored. HCC cells were transfected with siRNA-NC or GAPLINC siRNA to figure out the role of GAPLINC in cell migration, invasion, proliferation and EMT in HCC cells. The upregulated expression of GAPLINC was found both in HCC tissues and cells. The expression of GAPLINC was correlated with tumor stage, distant metastasis and pathological grade of HCC. Moreover, GAPLINC was confirmed as an independent risk factor for prognosis of patients with HCC. In HCC-LM3 and MHCC-97H cells, cells transfected with GAPLINC siRNA inhibited cell migration, invasion, proliferation and EMT in HCC cells. This study suggests that the high expression of GAPLINC in HCC is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of HCC. Additionally, downregulation of GAPLINC can inhibit the EMT, proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells.