diff --git a/backend/handlers/api.go b/backend/handlers/api.go
index 884d467..1bc89d8 100644
--- a/backend/handlers/api.go
+++ b/backend/handlers/api.go
@@ -263,6 +263,10 @@ func (a *App) searchMedia(c *gin.Context) {
 		c.JSON(http.StatusBadGateway, gin.H{"error": err.Error()})
 		return
 	}
+	if len(results) == 0 {
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{"results": []services.AIRecommendation{}, "warning": "Vertex AI Search returned no renderable results. Check your website indexing fields and thumbnails."})
+		return
+	}
 
 	recommended, err := a.GeminiService.Recommend(req.Query, results)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/backend/services/cse.go b/backend/services/cse.go
index cff9b96..144c3cd 100644
--- a/backend/services/cse.go
+++ b/backend/services/cse.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	neturl "net/url"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -121,15 +122,33 @@ func (s *SearchService) searchLite(query string, imageSearch bool) ([]SearchResu
 
 	results := make([]SearchResult, 0, len(payload.Results))
 	for _, item := range payload.Results {
-		link := firstString(item.Document.StructData, "link", "url", "uri")
-		title := firstString(item.Document.StructData, "title", "name")
-		displayLink := firstString(item.Document.StructData, "site_name", "displayLink")
-		snippet := firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "snippets", "snippet")
-		thumb := firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "link", "thumbnail", "image", "image_url")
+		link := firstNonEmpty(
+			firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "link", "url", "uri"),
+			firstString(item.Document.StructData, "link", "url", "uri"),
+		)
+		title := firstNonEmpty(
+			firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "title", "name"),
+			firstString(item.Document.StructData, "title", "name"),
+		)
+		displayLink := firstNonEmpty(
+			firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "displayLink", "site_name"),
+			firstString(item.Document.StructData, "displayLink", "site_name"),
+		)
+		snippet := firstNonEmpty(
+			firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "snippets", "snippet", "extractive_answers"),
+			firstString(item.Document.StructData, "snippets", "snippet", "description"),
+		)
+		thumb := firstNonEmpty(
+			firstString(item.Document.DerivedStructData, "thumbnail", "image", "image_url", "link"),
+			firstString(item.Document.StructData, "thumbnail", "image", "image_url"),
+		)
 		if thumb == "" {
-			thumb = firstString(item.Document.StructData, "thumbnail", "image", "image_url")
+			thumb = deriveThumbnail(link)
 		}
-		if thumb == "" || link == "" {
+		if title == "" {
+			title = displayLink
+		}
+		if link == "" {
 			continue
 		}
 		results = append(results, SearchResult{
@@ -144,6 +163,15 @@ func (s *SearchService) searchLite(query string, imageSearch bool) ([]SearchResu
 	return results, nil
 }
 
+func firstNonEmpty(values ...string) string {
+	for _, value := range values {
+		if strings.TrimSpace(value) != "" {
+			return value
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func firstString(values map[string]any, keys ...string) string {
 	for _, key := range keys {
 		value, ok := values[key]
@@ -161,13 +189,13 @@ func firstString(values map[string]any, keys ...string) string {
 					return text
 				}
 				if mapped, ok := item.(map[string]any); ok {
-					if text := firstString(mapped, "snippet", "htmlSnippet", "url"); text != "" {
+					if text := firstString(mapped, "snippet", "htmlSnippet", "url", "link", "value", "content"); text != "" {
 						return text
 					}
 				}
 			}
 		case map[string]any:
-			if text := firstString(typed, "snippet", "htmlSnippet", "url"); text != "" {
+			if text := firstString(typed, "snippet", "htmlSnippet", "url", "link", "value", "content"); text != "" {
 				return text
 			}
 		}
@@ -175,6 +203,30 @@ func firstString(values map[string]any, keys ...string) string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+func deriveThumbnail(link string) string {
+	if link == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if videoID := extractYouTubeID(link); videoID != "" {
+		return "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/" + videoID + "/hqdefault.jpg"
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func extractYouTubeID(link string) string {
+	patterns := []*regexp.Regexp{
+		regexp.MustCompile(`(?:v=|\/shorts\/|\/embed\/)([A-Za-z0-9_-]{11})`),
+		regexp.MustCompile(`youtu\.be\/([A-Za-z0-9_-]{11})`),
+	}
+	for _, pattern := range patterns {
+		matches := pattern.FindStringSubmatch(link)
+		if len(matches) == 2 {
+			return matches[1]
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func inferSource(displayLink string) string {
 	switch {
 	case strings.Contains(displayLink, "youtube"):