Expanding the design space for plasmonic gels under chemical control, ITO nanocrystals with varying size and Sn doping concentration, and ligands with a range of molecular backbone lengths, were investigated to assess their impact on plasmon coupling within nanocrystal gel networks. While the redshift of the gel collective plasmon resonance (relative to single nanocrystal LSPR) ∆ω res correlated with larger inorganic core diameter d core , higher Sn doping concentration, and shorter ligand length, the scaled peak shift (∆ω res /ω disp ) as a function of scaled gap distance (Gap/d core ) exhibited a universal exponential decay behavior (Figure ). This empirical correlation was confirmed through Brownian dynamic simulation and MPM modeling, utilizing experimentally derived parameters as inputs to closely mimic the experimental gel structures and individual nanocrystal optical properties. Using the plasmon ruler as a guide, gels with far-field spectra that were broader or even narrower than the nanocrystal dispersion lineshapes were designed and experimentally realized.