Abstract: Based on the basic principles of an optimization algorithm, a group search optimization (GSO) algorithm, an improved GSO, named quick group search optimizer (QGSO), are presented to deal with structural optimization design tasks. The improvement has three main aspects: first, increase the number of ‘ranger’ when the target stops going forward; second, use the search strategy of PSO by considering the best group member and the best personal member, and employ the step search strategy to replace the visual search strategy; third, reproduce the ‘ranger’ with hybrid of the group best member and the personal best member. The QGSO is used to investigate the planar and space truss structures with discrete variables. The calculation results are compared with that of the GSO and HPSO. The results show that the QGSO has a preferable convergence rate and accuracy. It is desired for QGSO to be used for structural optimal design problems.