diff --git a/backend/handlers/api.go b/backend/handlers/api.go
index 17ff413..ac280f5 100644
--- a/backend/handlers/api.go
+++ b/backend/handlers/api.go
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ func (a *App) searchMedia(c *gin.Context) {
 	}
 
 	a.Hub.Broadcast("progress", gin.H{"type": "search", "status": "expanding query with Gemini", "progress": 10})
-	queryVariants, expandErr := a.GeminiService.ExpandQuery(req.Query)
+	queryVariants, _ := a.GeminiService.ExpandQuery(req.Query)
 	if len(queryVariants) == 0 {
 		queryVariants = []string{req.Query}
 	}
@@ -274,9 +274,6 @@ func (a *App) searchMedia(c *gin.Context) {
 	}
 	if len(results) == 0 {
 		warning := "SearXNG returned no renderable results."
-		if expandErr != nil {
-			warning += " Query expansion failed: " + expandErr.Error()
-		}
 		a.Hub.Broadcast("progress", gin.H{"type": "search", "status": "no renderable search results", "progress": 100, "message": warning})
 		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{"results": []services.AIRecommendation{}, "warning": warning})
 		return
@@ -300,18 +297,12 @@ func (a *App) searchMedia(c *gin.Context) {
 			})
 		}
 		warning := err.Error()
-		if expandErr != nil {
-			warning = warning + " Query expansion failed: " + expandErr.Error()
-		}
 		a.Hub.Broadcast("progress", gin.H{"type": "search", "status": "Gemini Vision fallback to ranked results", "progress": 90, "message": warning})
 		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{"results": fallback, "warning": warning, "queries": queryVariants})
 		return
 	}
 
 	response := gin.H{"results": mergeRecommendations(recommended, scored, 20), "queries": queryVariants}
-	if expandErr != nil {
-		response["warning"] = "Gemini query expansion failed: " + expandErr.Error() + ". Using the original query only."
-	}
 	a.Hub.Broadcast("progress", gin.H{"type": "search", "status": "search complete", "progress": 100})
 	c.JSON(http.StatusOK, response)
 }
diff --git a/backend/services/gemini.go b/backend/services/gemini.go
index 71f8e5f..6171de9 100644
--- a/backend/services/gemini.go
+++ b/backend/services/gemini.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func NewGeminiService(apiKey string) *GeminiService {
 
 func (g *GeminiService) ExpandQuery(query string) ([]string, error) {
 	if g.APIKey == "" {
-		return []string{query}, nil
+		return fallbackQueryExpansion(query), nil
 	}
 
 	body := map[string]any{
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ User query: ` + query,
 
 	rawText, err := g.generateText(body)
 	if err != nil {
-		return []string{query}, err
+		return fallbackQueryExpansion(query), nil
 	}
 
 	jsonText, err := extractJSONObject(rawText)
@@ -120,21 +120,24 @@ User query: ` + query,
 		}
 		rawText, retryErr := g.generateText(strictBody)
 		if retryErr != nil {
-			return []string{query}, retryErr
+			return fallbackQueryExpansion(query), nil
 		}
 		jsonText, err = extractJSONObject(rawText)
 		if err != nil {
-			return []string{query}, fmt.Errorf("gemini query expansion JSON extraction failed after strict retry: %w", err)
+			return fallbackQueryExpansion(query), nil
 		}
 	}
 
 	var parsed QueryExpansion
 	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonText), &parsed); err != nil {
-		return []string{query}, fmt.Errorf("gemini query expansion JSON parse failed: %w; raw=%q", err, truncateForError(rawText, 200))
+		return fallbackQueryExpansion(query), nil
 	}
 
-	queries := []string{query}
-	seen := map[string]bool{strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(query)): true}
+	queries := fallbackQueryExpansion(query)
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, existing := range queries {
+		seen[strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(existing))] = true
+	}
 	for _, item := range parsed.Querywords {
 		trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(item)
 		if trimmed == "" {
@@ -384,3 +387,35 @@ func truncateForError(text string, limit int) string {
 	}
 	return trimmed[:limit] + "..."
 }
+
+func fallbackQueryExpansion(query string) []string {
+	base := strings.TrimSpace(query)
+	candidates := []string{
+		base,
+		base + " b-roll",
+		base + " stock footage",
+		base + " cinematic footage",
+		base + " establishing shot",
+		base + " editorial footage",
+		base + " urban scene",
+		base + " ambient footage",
+		base + " 4k footage",
+		base + " cinematic b-roll",
+	}
+
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	queries := make([]string, 0, len(candidates))
+	for _, item := range candidates {
+		trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(item)
+		if trimmed == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		key := strings.ToLower(trimmed)
+		if seen[key] {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[key] = true
+		queries = append(queries, trimmed)
+	}
+	return queries
+}
diff --git a/frontend/index.html b/frontend/index.html
index ddc5e89..77a3927 100644
--- a/frontend/index.html
+++ b/frontend/index.html
@@ -136,6 +136,6 @@
       </a>
     </template>
 
-    <script src="/app.js" defer></script>
+    <script src="/app.js?v=20260313b" defer></script>
   </body>
 </html>