17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the visual contextual search component is a plug-in for the computer application having the GUI.
14. A system for visual contextual search, the system comprising: a computer application having a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed to a user on a computer display; a visual map of the GUI that associates one or more topics with one or more GUI elements of the GUI; and a visual contextual search component comprising: a selection module configured to receive a selection area with user-defined boundaries encompassing a portion of the GUI of the computer application, wherein the selection area is drawn by a user of the GUI using a computer input device while the GUI is running; a topic module that determines, based on the visual map, a set of help topics that are related to the one or more GUI elements that are displayed within the selection area defined by the user; and a display module that displays for the user on the computer display a results section comprising one or more help topics in the set of help topics associated with the selection area defined by the user and a visual map of the GUI defining an association between the one or more help topics and the one or more GUI elements.