How to Use Winston AI for Text Analysis

Overview

Winston AI is a content analysis platform that lets you detect AI-generated text, check for plagiarism, get writing feedback, and fact-check claims — all from a single scan. This guide walks you through the complete flow, from starting a scan to reading your results, managing your documents, and understanding what each plan includes.

Step 1: Start a New Text Scan

Log in to your Winston AI account and click New text scan in the left navigation panel. You will land on the scan editor — a two-panel layout with your text editor on the left and scan options on the right.

Before adding text, fill in two optional fields at the top:

Document title — helps you find the scan later in your Projects list
Document author — useful if you are checking student submissions or managing multiple writers

Step 2: Add Your Text

You have three ways to get content into the editor:

Paste directly — click into the editor and paste your text (minimum 500 characters)
File upload — upload a .docx, .pdf, or .txt file
Import from URL — enter a web address and Winston will pull the text from that page

As you add text, the counter at the bottom updates in real time: words, characters, and the estimated credit cost for your chosen features.

Step 3: Select Your Scan Features

Below the editor, toggle any combination of four features on or off:

AI detector (1 credit/word) — detects AI-generated content and gives a Human Score
Plagiarism (2 credits/word) — checks for copied content across the web
Fact checker (1 credit/word) — verifies factual claims against external sources
Writing feedback (1 credit/word) — suggests grammar fixes, paraphrasing, and clarity improvements

The AI detector is enabled by default. The credit estimator updates immediately as you toggle features on and off. Not all features are available on every plan — see the plan comparison below.

Step 4: Run the Scan

Click Scan. Winston processes your text and loads the results into the right panel. Credits for all selected features are deducted at this point.

Reading Your Results

Once the scan finishes, the left panel shows a read-only version of your text with basic stats (word count, character count, sentence count, reading time). The right panel displays results in a tabbed layout — one tab per feature selected.

To edit the text after scanning, click the Edit mode toggle at the top of the left panel.

AI Detector Tab

Human Score — a percentage from 0% to 100%, with the model version used. A score near 0% means the content is almost certainly AI-generated; near 100% means it reads as human-written.

AI Prediction Map — a sentence-by-sentence breakdown with color coding:

0–20: AI Generated
20–40: Likely AI
40–60: Uncertain
60–80: Mostly Human
80–100: Human Written

The prediction map scans smaller portions individually, so it is less accurate than the overall Human Score. Use the overall score as your primary indicator.

Readability Score — a 0–100 score based on the Flesch-Kincaid formula, with a U.S. school grade level label. You can also check the readability score of any text using Winston's standalone readability checker.

Sections Driving AI Score — a list of individual sentences with percentage scores, useful for identifying which sections are pulling the overall score down.

Explain (AI Overview)

Click the Explain button above the text panel to open the AI Overview panel. This generates a plain-language narrative that explains what the detection results mean — it summarizes the verdict, interprets the sentence-level scores, and if the content is flagged as AI-generated, offers suggestions for making the writing sound more human. Useful when sharing results with students or clients who need context beyond a raw percentage.

Fact Checker Tab

The fact checker extracts factual claims from your text and checks them against external sources. Each statement is classified as:

Supported — backed by credible sources
Unsure — could not be definitively verified
Refuted — contradicts available evidence

Click any statement to expand it and view the explanation and source links.

Writing Feedback Tab

Writing feedback is broken into three categories:

Grammar — errors with a one-click Correct button
Paraphrase — rephrasing suggestions with a one-click Correct button
Clarity — structural guidance that requires manual revision

Plagiarism Tab

Shows an overall plagiarism percentage and a list of matched sources. Each match highlights the relevant text in the left panel. A result of 0% with zero matches means no plagiarism was detected.

Managing Your Document and Project

The Actions button (next to Download and Share) has three options:

New document — adds a new document to the current project
Save document — manually saves the current state
Delete project — permanently removes the project and all documents in it

Renaming a Project

Click the project title at the top of the page (shown as "Untitled - YYYY-MM-DD" by default) to rename it inline.

Navigating Between Documents

Use the Previous document and Next document arrows to move between documents in the same project. The View project documents button shows all documents in the current project at once.

Download — exports a PDF report. Choose which sections to include (AI detector, Plagiarism, Writing feedback, Fact checker). All sections are selected by default.

Share — toggle on Link sharing to generate a shareable URL. Recipients get read-only access to your scan results. Link sharing is off by default.

Rescanning

The Rescan button at the bottom of any results tab lets you re-run the scan after editing — useful for checking whether revisions improved the score. Credits are deducted again.

Viewing Past Scans

All scans are saved automatically and accessible from:

Documents in the left sidebar — your most recent documents
Projects in the left sidebar — full list of all projects, sorted by date

On the Projects page you can sort projects, create a new one with the New project card, and delete projects using the delete button on each card.

Bonus Tools

Two additional tools are available under More in the left sidebar (under Tools):

Grammar Checker — a standalone grammar, spelling, and style checker. Available in English (American, Canadian, British, and Australian). No credits required.

Text Compare — paste two versions of a text side by side and click Compare texts to highlight differences and get a similarity score. Cost: 1/4 credit per word, minimum 100 characters per box.

What's Available on Each Plan

Not all features are available on every plan:

Feature	Free Trial	Essential	Essential (Plagiarism)	Advanced	Elite
AI detector	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Plagiarism checker	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Writing feedback	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fact checker	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AI Overview (Explain)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Image scan	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Website scan	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Classroom	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
HUMN-1 certification	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
HUMN-2 certification	No	No	No	No	Yes
Shareable reports	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit top-up	No	No	No	No	Yes
Team members	0	0	0	5	Unlimited
Monitored websites	0	0	0	1	1

Choosing Between Essential Plans

The Essential and Essential (Plagiarism) plans are not interchangeable — they are designed for different use cases. Essential focuses on AI detection; Essential (Plagiarism) replaces AI detection with plagiarism checking. If you need both, you will need to upgrade to Advanced or Elite.

Credit Top-Ups (Elite Only)

On Essential, Essential (Plagiarism), and Advanced plans, once your monthly credits are used up, you wait until the next billing cycle. Elite plan users can purchase additional credits at any time using the Get more credits link in the top navigation bar — no waiting required.

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