Count specific words and phrases in a draft

How this is calculated

The search uses literal text rather than regular expressions. A period in a target means a period, so you don't need to escape punctuation. Whole word matches follow the same word boundaries as the main counter. A multiword phrase must also match its internal spacing and punctuation. For example, thank you with one space doesn't automatically match the same words separated by a newline. Match case makes capitalization matter. Duplicate targets are counted once. Matches don't overlap within one target. Separate targets are counted independently, so a phrase and one of its words can both match the same part of the draft.

Verdict

Keep Whole words only enabled when you're checking vocabulary or repeated terms. Disable it when you're looking for a prefix, suffix, or exact sequence inside a larger word. Review the separate rows instead of treating the combined total as a count of distinct passages. If you search for both new and new york, their results can include the same occurrence. A high number isn't automatically a writing problem. Some subjects need a repeated name or technical term for clarity. Use the result to find patterns worth reading, then decide whether a rewrite helps the reader.