> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/web-search/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.meetgail.com/_mcp/server.

# Web Search

> Looks up current information on the web and returns a list of matching pages with their content.

The Web Search node runs a search on the public web and returns a list of
matching pages, each with its address, title, description, and content. It finds
pages; it does not interpret them. Pair it with an
[Agent](/platform/workflows/node-reference/ai/agent) or
[Web Extract](/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/web-extract) when you need
to turn those pages into an answer.

## When to use it

* You need current, real-world information a workflow cannot get from your own
  systems, like a published rate, a filing, or a recent news item.
* You want to locate the right pages before pulling specific details from them.
* You are verifying a business or person against public sources as part of an
  intake or underwriting flow.

## Inputs

| Field          | What it's for                                                                                                                                                              | Example                                                               |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Search Query   | The words to search for, just as you would type them into a search engine.                                                                                                 | "Florida Secretary of State business filing Chen Insurance Group LLC" |
| Max Results    | How many pages to return, from one to ten.                                                                                                                                 | `3`                                                                   |
| Content Format | How much of each page to bring back: readable text, a short summary, just the links, or the raw page. Readable text is the default and works well for handing to an agent. | Summary                                                               |

## Outputs

| Field   | What you get back                                                                                                                  |
| ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Results | A list of matching pages. Each one includes its address, title, a short description, and the page content in the format you chose. |

## Example

Before quoting a new commercial account, an agency wants to confirm the business
exists and find its state filing page. A Web Search node searches for the
company name alongside "Secretary of State business filing" and returns the top
three results. A downstream
[Web Extract](/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/web-extract) step then opens
the most relevant one and reads the filing status, so an underwriter never has
to look it up by hand.

![The Web Search node configuration panel, showing the search query, max results, and content format.](/_fern-img/303cc20031de6f3edaabeb09486c926c6df67b2588d4c07081fae498f2fb00bb.webp)

> **Note**
>
> Web Search only finds pages, it does not read them for you. Feed its results
> into an [Agent](/platform/workflows/node-reference/ai/agent) to pull out an answer, or
> into [Web Extract](/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/web-extract) to grab
> specific fields. Asking for a handful of results usually beats asking for one,
> since the best page is not always first.

## Related nodes

#### [Web Extract](/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/web-extract)

Open the pages you found and pull specific fields off them.

#### [Agent](/platform/workflows/node-reference/ai/agent)

Hand the results to an agent to summarize or extract an answer.

#### [HTTP Request](/platform/workflows/node-reference/web-and-http/http-request)

Call a known service directly instead of searching for it.

#### [Check](/platform/workflows/node-reference/logic-and-flow/check)

Confirm the search actually returned results before continuing.

> Documentation for Gail, the AI platform for financial services. Learn how to set up GailGPT and Gail Agent to automate customer communications for insurance, banking, and finance.