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Soloing:
If you've ever looked at a chart for a standard and said to yourself "Look at all these chords, how am I supposed to play a solo over all these changes?" guide tones can help you overcome this problem. If you know which scales to use and what the guide tones are, you can combine both to make a logical, melodic solo. Example 3 is a one chorus solo over "Autumn Leaves". Also, if you look at the melody to this tune, you'll see that it also targets guide tones, a prime example of their defining role in jazz.

Ex. 3 Audio:

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