When someone says they rank in the top ten for a term that's more than one word, I assume that means the phrase without quotation marks (i.e., any combination of all words in the term). Yay or nay?
I don't think there is a rule, but most people don't search with quotes- so a ranking without quotes is obviously better than with.
yes, not many consumers use quotation marks when searching in google, so to rank with quotation marks wouldn't really be relevant. but it is still very good.
If you rank for your term with quotes, but not without, would that be an indication that you are on the right path?