Biomass gasification technology has been extensively researched around the world; however, there is a need to evaluate the current research landscape and evolutionary direction of research in the broader context of energy transition. A systematic bibliometric analysis of the Web of Science database was performed for articles that fall within the keywords ‘Biomass gasification’ and ‘Energy transition’. A total of 1498 articles were identified; after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 1196 articles were selected for final analysis. VOSviewer and Biblometrix were used for the study. Trends in biomass gasification and energy transition were identified as the initial (1994–2008), rise (2009–2018) and prosperity stages (2019 to date). A significant portion (47%) of publications were concentrated in 10 journals, including Renewable Energy, Energy and International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Among the countries, China leads with 672 publications, followed by the US, India, and Italy. The prominent research areas are hydrogen production, process optimization, exergy analysis, tar reduction and life cycle assessment. Currently, the active area of research is the production of hydrogen-rich gas through biomass gasification technologies and integrating bioenergy systems with carbon capture and storage to achieve sustainable energy transition goals.