A three-dimensional Gaussian heat source model is modified to include the effects of the gap and thickness-difference for the laser keyhole welding. The gap of the butt joint influences the welding efficiency such that the melting area decreases linearly with the gap. When the different plate thickness is used such as the tailored blank welding, melting areas of the thick and thin plates are predicted by introducing the thickness-difference factor. The calculated results using the modified heat source show reasonably good agreements with the experimental results.