Before I really started coding I worked in electronics (designing mixed-signal design kits at the semiconductor level) and I remember I used to judge programmers by how much "better" at google they were than me. Since I've switched over and become a full-time coder (and co-founder which is a whole different exercise) I have become far better at searching for solutions to my problems than I was in the past. That being said I don't think it's the fact that I default to searching that makes me a good programmer. I think it's like some of the other comments have mentioned, the ability to filter what information is useful or not quickly and then apply and test the useful information so that you do not have to re-derive every action. This has led me down a rabbit-hole a few times where I would be testing different solutions when just building it myself would have been much faster, but overall I definitely think it is part of what makes me work at the speed at which I do.

I'm reminded of Mathematics from college. When first learning something it's difficult and simply seeing the solution won't improve your ability to recognize it. But once you figure it out once, you may not immediately remember how to apply it when faced with a similar problem, but recall is very quick because your brain has already wired the pathways of understanding.