diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cb436987..e6a3e4fb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -414,12 +414,18 @@ gctools delete-empty-tags <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --maxPostCount 5 --delayBetween
 
 ### find-replace
 
-Find & replace strings of text within Ghost posts
+Find & replace strings of text within Ghost posts. If `--replace` is omitted, the command runs in dry-run mode and reports the number of matches without making any changes.
 
 ```sh
 # See all available options
 gctools find-replace --help
 
+# Dry run: find matches without replacing anything
+gctools find-replace <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --find 'Old text'
+
+# Dry run with detailed per-post, per-field match report
+gctools find-replace <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --find 'Old text' --where all -V
+
 # Replace a string but only in the `mobiledoc` and `title`
 gctools find-replace <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --find 'Old text' --replace 'New text' --where mobiledoc,title
 
@@ -433,6 +439,8 @@ gctools find-replace <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --tag world-news --find 'Old text' -
 gctools find-replace <apiURL> <adminAPIKey> --find 'Old text' --replace 'New text' --delayBetweenCalls 100
 ```
 
+Use `-V` (`--verbose`) for detailed output showing which fields matched or were replaced in each post.
+
 Available `where` fields are:
 
 * `all`
diff --git a/commands/find-replace.js b/commands/find-replace.js
index d4012d7b..ba94c3da 100644
--- a/commands/find-replace.js
+++ b/commands/find-replace.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const setup = (sywac) => {
     });
     sywac.string('--replace', {
         defaultValue: null,
-        desc: 'Replace with'
+        desc: 'Replace with (omit to do a dry run)'
     });
     sywac.array('--where', {
         defaultValue: 'mobiledoc',
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ const run = async (argv) => {
     let timer = Date.now();
     let context = {errors: []};
 
+    // Validate --replace: if the flag is present but has no argument,
+    // sywac may coerce it to a non-string value (e.g. boolean true).
+    if (argv.replace !== null && typeof argv.replace !== 'string') {
+        ui.log.error(`--replace requires an argument. Provide '' to replace text with an empty string.`);
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (argv.where.includes('all')) {
         argv.where = ['mobiledoc', 'html', 'lexical', 'title', 'slug', 'custom_excerpt', 'meta_title', 'meta_description', 'twitter_title', 'twitter_description', 'og_title', 'og_description', 'feature_image', 'codeinjection_head', 'codeinjection_foot'];
     }
@@ -66,8 +73,10 @@ const run = async (argv) => {
         ui.log.error('Done with errors', context.errors);
     }
 
-    // Report success
-    ui.log.ok(`Successfully updated ${context.updated.length} strings in ${Date.now() - timer}ms.`);
+    if (argv.replace !== null) {
+        // Report success for replace mode
+        ui.log.ok(`Successfully updated ${context.updated.length} strings in ${Date.now() - timer}ms.`);
+    }
 };
 
 export default {
diff --git a/tasks/find-replace.js b/tasks/find-replace.js
index 45cdaa03..bdde0506 100644
--- a/tasks/find-replace.js
+++ b/tasks/find-replace.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import Promise from 'bluebird';
 import GhostAdminAPI from '@tryghost/admin-api';
 import {makeTaskRunner} from '@tryghost/listr-smart-renderer';
+import {ui} from '@tryghost/pretty-cli';
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import {transformToCommaString} from '../lib/utils.js';
 import {discover} from '../lib/batch-ghost-discover.js';
@@ -36,6 +37,8 @@ const initialise = (options) => {
 };
 
 const getFullTaskList = (options) => {
+    const dryRun = options.replace === null;
+
     return [
         initialise(options),
         {
@@ -66,25 +69,60 @@ const getFullTaskList = (options) => {
             task: async (ctx) => {
                 await Promise.mapSeries(ctx.posts, async (post) => {
                     let matches = [];
+                    let matchesByField = {};
 
                     ctx.args.where.forEach((key) => {
                         if (post[key]) {
                             let match = post[key].match(ctx.regex);
                             if (match) {
                                 matches.push(...match);
+                                matchesByField[key] = match.length;
                             }
                         }
                     });
 
                     if (matches.length > 0) {
                         post.matches = matches;
+                        post.matchesByField = matchesByField;
                         ctx.toUpdate.push(post);
                     }
                 });
             }
         },
+        {
+            title: 'Reporting matches',
+            enabled: () => dryRun,
+            task: async (ctx, task) => {
+                if (ctx.toUpdate.length === 0) {
+                    task.title = 'No matches found';
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                let totalMatches = 0;
+
+                for (const post of ctx.toUpdate) {
+                    for (const [, count] of Object.entries(post.matchesByField)) {
+                        totalMatches += count;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (ctx.args.verbose) {
+                    ui.log.info('');
+                    for (const post of ctx.toUpdate) {
+                        for (const [field, count] of Object.entries(post.matchesByField)) {
+                            ui.log.info(`  ${count}:${field}:${post.title}`);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    ui.log.info('');
+                }
+
+                task.title = `Found ${totalMatches} matches across ${ctx.toUpdate.length} posts`;
+                task.output = `Add --replace '<string>' to replace them.`;
+            }
+        },
         {
             title: 'Replacing text',
+            enabled: () => !dryRun,
             task: async (ctx) => {
                 let tasks = [];
 
@@ -98,8 +136,9 @@ const getFullTaskList = (options) => {
                                 }
                             });
 
-                            // Delete the matches object or else the request gets denied
+                            // Delete the matches objects or else the request gets denied
                             delete post.matches;
+                            delete post.matchesByField;
 
                             try {
                                 let result = await ctx.api.posts.edit(post);