On a closed Riemannian manifold, it is well known that critical metrics for volume-normalized Laplace eigenvalues are closely connected to minimal isometric immersions into spheres by eigenfunctions. In this talk, we address the analogous question for the conformal Laplacian by considering ratios of eigenvalues instead. We first motivate this normalization by establishing a Payne–Pólya–Weinberger inequality for the ratio of the first two eigenvalues in terms of a conformal invariant. Then we prove that critical metrics for this ratio correspond to harmonic–Einstein maps into spheres, which are solutions of a nonlinear sigma model coupled to gravity. Finally, we extend these results to the family of GJMS operators and beyond.