Results of investigations of electronic structure and optical properties of GdFeAl and GdFeSi compounds are presented. Spin-plarized density of states and interband optical conductivity spectra were calculated in frame of DFT+U technique with a correction for strong correlation effects in 4f shell of Gd. Optical properties were measured by ellipsometric technique in wavelength interval of 0.22 - 16 μm. Nature of quantum light absorption is discussed on the base of comparative analysis of experimental and calculated spectra. It is shown that main features of frequency dependencies of the optical conductivity are interpret qualitatively by the calculated density of electronic states.