Web Search

The Web Search node performs automated searches using Google or Bing. It supports general web queries, image searches, news/event discovery, and regional filtering—ideal for research, monitoring, or lead generation workflows.

Node Overview

Purpose: Automate online search queries and capture structured result data
Usage: Starting point for data collection, competitor analysis, or content tracking
Search Engines Supported: Google, Bing, News, Images, Events, Hotels
Credits Required:

• Basic Search: 2 credits

• Advanced Search: 5 credits

Node Inputs

Required

• Query
  Search term or phrase to execute

Optional

• Results Count
  Number of results to return (default: 5)

• Use Advanced Search
  Enable to use a premium SERP engine with richer metadata

• Engine
  Choose one of:

  • Google

  • Bing

  • Images

  • Hotels

  • Events

  • News

• Country
  Restrict results by region (e.g., United States, Singapore)

• Event Dates
  Specify time window when Engine is set to Events

Node Outputs

• URLs
  List of search result URLs

• Snippets
  Corresponding descriptions or metadata for each result

Node Functionality

This node uses Google’s Custom Search API and Bing Web Search API to return structured web search results. Key features:

• Supports both general and vertical (e.g., news, events) search types

• Regional targeting for country-specific relevance

• Configurable output size and structure

• Compatible with Loop Mode for batch querying

Example Workflows

1. Competitor Content Analysis

Flow: Web Search → Website Scraper → Summarizer → Notion Writer

• Query: site:competitor.com product reviews

• Engine: Google

• Results: 10
  Use scraped text for AI-driven product comparisons.

2. Industry News Monitoring

Flow: Web Search → Scraper → Categorizer → Slack Sender

• Query: industry keyword news

• Engine: News

• Country: United States

• Results: 15
  Send daily summaries to internal channels.

3. Social Media Content Research

Flow: Web Search → Scraper → Extract Data → Airtable Writer

• Query: trending topics technology

• Engine: Bing

• Results: 20
  Prioritize ideas using AI List Sorter.

4. Event Marketing Pipeline

Flow: Web Search → Extract Data → Gmail Sender

• Query: tech conferences 2024

• Engine: Events

• Country: United States

• Event Dates: Next 3 months
  Use outputs to build outreach sequences.

Best Practices

Query Optimization

• Use precise terms for more relevant results

• Combine keywords with operators (site:, intitle:, etc.)

• Example: site:linkedin.com/in CFO biotech for people search

Handling Result Count with Advanced Search

• When Advanced Search is enabled, Results Count is ignored

• To control list length:

  1. Add a List Trimmer node after the Web Search node

  2. Set your desired limit (e.g., keep first 10 items)

  3. Map outputs (URLs, Snippets) into the trimmer

Engine Selection

Important Considerations

• Public internet access is required to run this node

• Queries are rate-limited by provider APIs

• Results may vary across regions and engines

• Cache outputs with storage nodes if reuse is needed