Disclosed are an apparatus, system, and method for visual contextual searching in a computer application that has a graphical user interface (GUI). The apparatus includes a selection module that defines a selection area of the GUI that is displayed on the computer display. The user provides the necessary input defining the selection area using an input device such as a mouse to define the boundary of the selection area. A topic module determines a set of topics related to the GUI elements that are displayed within the selection area defined by the user. The topic module may make the association using a visual map. A display module then displays these results for the user in a results section that is shown on the display. The apparatus may apply filter rules to restrict the number and types of topics that the display module lists. Users may also associate topics with a particular GUI element or disassociate topics with a particular GUI element.