A combinatorial proof of the Gaussian product inequality (GPI) is given under the assumption that each component of a centered Gaussian random vector $\boldsymbol{X} = (X_1, \ldots, X_d)$ of arbitrary length can be written as a linear combination, with coefficients of identical sign, of the components of a standard Gaussian random vector. This condition on $\boldsymbol{X}$ is shown to be strictly weaker than the assumption that the density of the random vector $(|X_1|, \ldots, |X_d|)$ is multivariate totally positive of order $2$, abbreviated MTP${}_2$, for which the GPI is already known to hold. Under this condition, the paper highlights a new link between the GPI and the monotonicity of a certain ratio of gamma functions.