diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ExerciseResearchPanel.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ExerciseResearchPanel.jsx
index 4fdb640..5a4b585 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ExerciseResearchPanel.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ExerciseResearchPanel.jsx
@@ -1,46 +1,119 @@
-import { useState } from 'react'
+import { useState, useCallback } from 'react'
 import ResearchDisplay from './ResearchDisplay'
 
 const API_URL = '/api'
 
+const PROVIDER_LABELS = {
+  ollama: { label: 'Local AI', icon: '🏠', className: 'provider-local' },
+  gemini: { label: 'Gemini', icon: '✨', className: 'provider-gemini' },
+  openrouter: { label: 'OpenRouter', icon: '🔀', className: 'provider-openrouter' },
+  opencode: { label: 'OpenCode', icon: '💡', className: 'provider-opencode' },
+  exa: { label: 'Exa Search', icon: '🔍', className: 'provider-exa' },
+}
+
+const ERROR_MESSAGES = {
+  'Failed to fetch': 'Network error — check your connection and try again.',
+  'Load failed': 'Network error — check your connection and try again.',
+  '429': 'AI provider is rate-limited. Retrying with fallback…',
+  '503': 'Service unavailable. Retrying with fallback…',
+  '500': 'Server error while fetching research.',
+}
+
+function normalizeErrorMessage(err) {
+  for (const [key, msg] of Object.entries(ERROR_MESSAGES)) {
+    if (err.message.includes(key)) return msg
+  }
+  return err.message || 'An unexpected error occurred.'
+}
+
+function ProviderBadge({ provider }) {
+  if (!provider) return null
+  const meta = PROVIDER_LABELS[provider] || { label: provider, icon: '🤖', className: 'provider-unknown' }
+  return (
+    <span className={`provider-badge ${meta.className}`} title={`Powered by ${meta.label}`}>
+      {meta.icon} {meta.label}
+    </span>
+  )
+}
+
 function ExerciseResearchPanel({ exerciseId, exerciseName }) {
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
   const [research, setResearch] = useState(null)
   const [error, setError] = useState(null)
+  const [provider, setProvider] = useState(null)
+  const [retryCount, setRetryCount] = useState(0)
 
-  const fetchResearch = async () => {
+  const fetchResearch = useCallback(async (attempt = 0) => {
     setLoading(true)
     setError(null)
+
     try {
       const res = await fetch(`${API_URL}/exercises/${exerciseId}/research`, {
         method: 'POST',
         headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
         body: JSON.stringify({})
       })
+
       if (!res.ok) {
-        const data = await res.json()
-        throw new Error(data.error || 'Failed to fetch research')
+        let errMsg = `Request failed (${res.status})`
+        try {
+          const data = await res.json()
+          errMsg = data.error || errMsg
+        } catch {
+          // ignore JSON parse error
+        }
+
+        // Auto-retry once on 429/503 (provider fallback happening on backend)
+        if ((res.status === 429 || res.status === 503) && attempt < 1) {
+          console.warn(`[Research] Status ${res.status}, retrying (attempt ${attempt + 1})…`)
+          setRetryCount(c => c + 1)
+          setTimeout(() => fetchResearch(attempt + 1), 2000)
+          return
+        }
+
+        throw new Error(errMsg)
       }
+
       const data = await res.json()
       setResearch(data)
+
+      // Extract provider from stored record or response metadata
+      const detectedProvider =
+        data.provider ||
+        (data.stored && data.stored.provider) ||
+        null
+      setProvider(detectedProvider)
+      setRetryCount(0)
     } catch (err) {
-      setError(err.message)
+      console.error('[Research] Fetch failed:', err)
+      setError(normalizeErrorMessage(err))
     } finally {
       setLoading(false)
     }
-  }
+  }, [exerciseId])
+
+  const handleFetch = () => fetchResearch(0)
 
   return (
     <div className="research-panel">
       <div className="research-panel-header">
         <h3 className="research-panel-title">Research</h3>
-        <button
-          className={`btn ${research ? 'btn-secondary' : 'btn-primary'} research-btn`}
-          onClick={fetchResearch}
-          disabled={loading}
-        >
-          {loading ? 'Fetching…' : research ? 'Refresh' : 'Get Research'}
-        </button>
+        <div className="research-panel-controls">
+          {provider && <ProviderBadge provider={provider} />}
+          <button
+            className={`btn ${research ? 'btn-secondary' : 'btn-primary'} research-btn`}
+            onClick={handleFetch}
+            disabled={loading}
+          >
+            {loading
+              ? retryCount > 0
+                ? `Retrying (${retryCount})…`
+                : 'Fetching…'
+              : research
+              ? 'Refresh'
+              : 'Get Research'}
+          </button>
+        </div>
       </div>
 
       <ResearchDisplay
@@ -49,6 +122,7 @@ function ExerciseResearchPanel({ exerciseId, exerciseName }) {
         data={research}
         name={exerciseName}
         onDismiss={() => setError(null)}
+        onRetry={handleFetch}
       />
     </div>
   )
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ResearchDisplay.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ResearchDisplay.jsx
index 227c5d7..34198bc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ResearchDisplay.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ResearchDisplay.jsx
@@ -9,16 +9,23 @@ function ResearchLoadingSkeleton({ exerciseName }) {
   )
 }
 
-function ResearchError({ message, onDismiss }) {
+function ResearchError({ message, onDismiss, onRetry }) {
   return (
     <div className="rd-error" role="alert">
       <span className="rd-error-icon" aria-hidden="true">⚠</span>
       <span className="rd-error-message">{message}</span>
-      {onDismiss && (
-        <button className="rd-dismiss" onClick={onDismiss} aria-label="Dismiss error">
-          ×
-        </button>
-      )}
+      <div className="rd-error-actions">
+        {onRetry && (
+          <button className="rd-retry btn btn-sm btn-primary" onClick={onRetry}>
+            Retry
+          </button>
+        )}
+        {onDismiss && (
+          <button className="rd-dismiss" onClick={onDismiss} aria-label="Dismiss error">
+            ×
+          </button>
+        )}
+      </div>
     </div>
   )
 }
@@ -52,14 +59,15 @@ function ResearchSourceCard({ result, index }) {
  *   data      {object}   Research data: { summary, results }
  *   name      {string}   Exercise name (shown during loading)
  *   onDismiss {function} Clear error callback
+ *   onRetry   {function} Retry fetch callback
  */
-function ResearchDisplay({ loading, error, data, name, onDismiss }) {
+function ResearchDisplay({ loading, error, data, name, onDismiss, onRetry }) {
   if (loading) {
     return <ResearchLoadingSkeleton exerciseName={name} />
   }
 
   if (error) {
-    return <ResearchError message={error} onDismiss={onDismiss} />
+    return <ResearchError message={error} onDismiss={onDismiss} onRetry={onRetry} />
   }
 
   if (!data) return null
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/ExerciseEncyclopediaPage.css b/frontend/src/pages/ExerciseEncyclopediaPage.css
index 2a6cdd2..09ae0bc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/ExerciseEncyclopediaPage.css
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/ExerciseEncyclopediaPage.css
@@ -563,3 +563,50 @@
     padding: var(--space-2) var(--space-3) var(--space-3);
   }
 }
+
+/* ============================================
+   PROVIDER BADGE — AI fallback indicator
+   ============================================ */
+
+.research-panel-controls {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: var(--space-2);
+}
+
+.provider-badge {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 4px;
+  padding: 2px 8px;
+  border-radius: 9999px;
+  font-size: 11px;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  letter-spacing: 0.03em;
+  background: var(--bg-elevated);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  color: var(--text-muted);
+  white-space: nowrap;
+}
+
+.provider-local   { border-color: rgba(34, 197, 94, 0.4); color: #4ade80; }
+.provider-gemini  { border-color: rgba(99, 102, 241, 0.4); color: #818cf8; }
+.provider-openrouter { border-color: rgba(234, 179, 8, 0.4); color: #facc15; }
+.provider-opencode   { border-color: rgba(251, 146, 60, 0.4); color: #fb923c; }
+.provider-exa     { border-color: rgba(56, 189, 248, 0.4); color: #38bdf8; }
+.provider-unknown { border-color: var(--border); color: var(--text-muted); }
+
+/* Error actions row */
+.rd-error-actions {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: var(--space-2);
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+}
+
+.rd-retry {
+  padding: 2px 10px;
+  font-size: var(--font-xs);
+  min-height: 28px;
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+}