1. GAC vs Concordia. GAC has a substantial lead in the overall series (47-39-2) and has won the last two head to head meetings. Not exactly screams being "behind" the Concordia football program in conference football hierarchy. Bethel certainly has been better in football than GAC in recent years so I'll give you that one, although I'd argue "recruiting identity" is far down the list of reasons why.
2. Aren't as "good of a school as St. Olaf and Carleton". True, but there isn't a huge difference between GAC and St. Olaf in particular (US News and World Report has their Liberal Arts national rankings at 84 and 67. Very similar kids/students with similar backgrounds although I believe the average student booze consumption levels might be a bit higher at GAC). Not to mention GAC has been beating both St. Olaf and especially Carleton on a regular basis for a long time in football so I'm not sure if GAC would want to duplicate their recruiting profiles. The other way around? Perhaps. Using your logic, St. Johns, despite regularly beating GAC in football is at a recruiting identity disadvantage because it ranks below GAC in academics.
3. Not as appealing to inner ring suburb kids as Augsburg? Again, GAC rarely loses football games to Augsburg. Not sure if "recruiting identity" is a problem for GAC when comparing those schools in football if Augsburg is regularly beaten head to head. With GAC having a 60-18 advantage head to head with Augsburg in football, including winning the past 6 games in a row, I'm fairly confident that matching Augsburg's inner ring suburb recruiting success is down the list of priorities among the GAC coaching staff.
3. No mans land? One hour from the Twin Cities, 10 minutes from Mankato. Closer to the "city" than St. John's, in a bigger town.
I do get what you are trying to say, but I think you've got it a bit backwards. GAC tends to appeal to a wider range of student athletes and therefore the recruiting tends to not be limited to a certain type of kid. That is potentially more of an advantage than a disadvantage in my opinion. For GAC, I don't think finding a recruiting niche like the programs that it regularly beats is a recipe for catching the two schools it is chasing. I agree with what SJUGopher said above - given the considerable resources, investment in the program, etc. - GAC should have been regularly better with more conf championships than what has been shown in the decades since 1987. I have my theories on why this has happened, but that is for another time and I have already typed enough here to bore pretty much anyone. I just don't think recruiting tops that list other than to say the obvious: it is always better to recruit better football players.