The Power led by 40 points late in the third quarter, but that margin was cut to 28 points at three-quarter time after quick goals to substitute Luke Russell and skipper Gary Ablett late in the term.
The home side looked to have halted the Suns' momentum when Jackson Trengove snapped a goal early in the final term. But in stark contrast to the fade-out against Melbourne last week the visitors piled on five unanswered goals to snatch the lead with two minutes to play.
Last week's hero Justin Westhoff had a chance to rob Gold Coast of its maiden victory with a shot at goal after the siren but his kick went to the right and the Suns held onto record a thrilling three-point win.
Before Showdown 30 the Power were criticised for being more competitive in games against Adelaide than in games against the other 15 teams in the competition.
After the game Chaplin said the criticism of his team's inconsistency was valid.
"We're probably the laughing stock of the AFL at the moment because we seem to be able to get up for showdowns and that's the reality at the moment," Chaplin said.
"We need to pull our fingers out and show all our supporters and members, who pay their money and come every week, that we are a good football team.
"You don't want to point out individuals but there were 22 guys out there who made mistakes today and I was one of them.
"As a team we were extremely embarrassing in our effort today and that's not taking anything away from Gold Coast. They just wanted the ball more and had a greater desire to win than we did."
The Power, who lost the opening three games of the year, wasted an opportunity to resurrect their season by not beating Gold Coast.
Chaplin said his side faced a tough challenge to respond against North Melbourne next weekend.
"Today's result definitely makes it [making the eight] harder, but there are still opportunities there," he said.
"There is a lot of improvement that needs to be made if we're going to turn the corner. It's disappointing after last week's effort to come here and dish up what we did today."
