While Hibs progressed to the quarter-finals of the League Cup at the weekend, Gent defeated RAAL La Louviere in the Belgian Pro League.
Rik de Mil's side have won both opening league matches, in addition to defeating Ukrainian side LNZ Cherkasy and Swedes IFK Gothenburg in previous Conference League qualifiers.
Still, the head coach insists the Scots will be their biggest test to date.
"They're a really good team, it's a good challenge for us, it's the best opponent this season we've played against," De Mil, whose side are at home for the first leg for the first time this campaign, said.
"Playing at home first is a little bit different for us, so we need to go full. We need to go full into this game and try to make the difference at home - without playing naive or always open.
"It's not a good thing to wait in this first game and to think it's going to be so easy in the away game."
Gent, who needed penalties to get past Cherkasy and drew 1-1 here with Gothenburg after winning 1-0 away, are "not at the best" insists De Mil.
"Like everyone else, we're at the beginning of our season, so we need to develop and improve a lot of things with several new players and young players stepping up," he added.
"We are getting the connections and the structure on the pitch and we are improving, but we are not at the best we can be... we will improve."