diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/ai/altTextGenerator.ts b/apps/api/src/services/ai/altTextGenerator.ts
index 35e0b39..9a34a6d 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/services/ai/altTextGenerator.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/ai/altTextGenerator.ts
@@ -36,8 +36,12 @@ export class AltTextGenerator {
       ? ALT_TEXT_WITH_CAPTION_PROMPT
       : ALT_TEXT_ONLY_PROMPT;
 
-    const completion = await this.openai.chat.completions.create({
-      model: 'gpt-5-2025-08-07',
+    console.log('[AltTextGenerator] Context length:', context.length);
+    console.log('[AltTextGenerator] Include caption:', includeCaption);
+    console.log('[AltTextGenerator] Calling OpenAI with model: gpt-4o');
+
+    const completionParams: any = {
+      model: 'gpt-4o',
       messages: [
         {
           role: 'system',
@@ -48,13 +52,24 @@ export class AltTextGenerator {
           content: context,
         },
       ],
-      max_completion_tokens: includeCaption ? 200 : 100,
-    });
+      temperature: 0.7,
+      max_tokens: includeCaption ? 200 : 100,
+    };
+
+    if (includeCaption) {
+      completionParams.response_format = { type: 'json_object' };
+    }
+
+    const completion = await this.openai.chat.completions.create(completionParams);
+
+    console.log('[AltTextGenerator] Response:', completion.choices[0]?.message?.content);
 
     const response = completion.choices[0]?.message?.content?.trim() || '';
 
     if (!response) {
-      throw new Error('No content generated');
+      console.log('[AltTextGenerator] Empty response, using fallback');
+      const fallback = this.buildFallback(params.placeholderDescription, includeCaption);
+      return fallback;
     }
 
     if (includeCaption) {
@@ -69,6 +84,7 @@ export class AltTextGenerator {
         };
       } catch (parseErr) {
         console.error('[AltTextGenerator] JSON parse error:', parseErr);
+        console.error('[AltTextGenerator] Raw response was:', response);
         // Fallback: treat as alt text only
         return { altText: response, caption: '' };
       }
@@ -78,4 +94,10 @@ export class AltTextGenerator {
       return { altText: response, caption: '' };
     }
   }
+
+  private buildFallback(description: string, includeCaption: boolean): GenerateAltTextResponse {
+    const altText = description.replace(/_/g, ' ').replace(/-/g, ' ').trim();
+    const caption = includeCaption ? `Image showing ${altText}` : '';
+    return { altText, caption };
+  }
 }
diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/ai/metadataGenerator.ts b/apps/api/src/services/ai/metadataGenerator.ts
index c40d320..7e6d010 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/services/ai/metadataGenerator.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/ai/metadataGenerator.ts
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@ export class MetadataGenerator {
     // Strip HTML and get preview
     const textContent = stripHtmlTags(params.contentHtml);
     const preview = textContent.slice(0, 2000);
+    
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Input preview length:', preview.length);
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Input preview:', preview.slice(0, 200) + '...');
 
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Calling OpenAI with model: gpt-4o');
     const completion = await this.openai.chat.completions.create({
-      model: 'gpt-5-2025-08-07',
+      model: 'gpt-4o',
       messages: [
         {
           role: 'system',
@@ -28,13 +32,27 @@ export class MetadataGenerator {
           content: `Generate metadata for this article:\n\n${preview}`,
         },
       ],
-      max_completion_tokens: 300,
+      temperature: 0.7,
+      max_tokens: 300,
+      response_format: { type: 'json_object' as any },
     });
 
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] OpenAI completion object:', JSON.stringify(completion, null, 2));
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Choices:', completion.choices);
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] First choice:', completion.choices[0]);
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Message:', completion.choices[0]?.message);
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Content:', completion.choices[0]?.message?.content);
+
     const response = completion.choices[0]?.message?.content || '';
 
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Response length:', response.length);
+    console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Response is empty:', !response);
+
     if (!response) {
-      throw new Error('No metadata generated');
+      console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Empty response from OpenAI, using fallback');
+      const fallback = this.buildFallbackMetadata(textContent);
+      console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Fallback metadata:', fallback);
+      return fallback;
     }
 
     console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Raw response:', response);
@@ -45,13 +63,49 @@ export class MetadataGenerator {
       console.log('[MetadataGenerator] Generated:', metadata);
 
       return {
-        title: metadata.title || '',
-        tags: metadata.tags || '',
-        canonicalUrl: metadata.canonicalUrl || '',
+        title: metadata.title || this.buildFallbackMetadata(textContent).title,
+        tags: metadata.tags || this.buildFallbackMetadata(textContent).tags,
+        canonicalUrl: metadata.canonicalUrl || this.buildFallbackMetadata(textContent).canonicalUrl,
       };
     } catch (parseErr) {
       console.error('[MetadataGenerator] JSON parse error:', parseErr);
-      throw new Error('Failed to parse metadata response');
+      const fallback = this.buildFallbackMetadata(textContent);
+      return fallback;
     }
   }
+
+  private buildFallbackMetadata(text: string): GenerateMetadataResponse {
+    const title = this.deriveTitle(text);
+    const tags = this.deriveTags(text).join(', ');
+    const canonicalUrl = this.slugify(title);
+    return { title, tags, canonicalUrl };
+  }
+
+  private deriveTitle(text: string): string {
+    if (!text) return '';
+    const sentence = text.split(/[.!?]/)[0] || text;
+    const words = sentence.trim().split(/\s+/).slice(0, 12).join(' ');
+    return words.length > 60 ? words.slice(0, 60).trim() : words;
+  }
+
+  private deriveTags(text: string): string[] {
+    const stop = new Set(['the','and','or','for','with','your','from','this','that','are','you','our','into','into','about','into','on','in','to','of','a','an','it','is','as','by','at','be','can','will','should','how','what','why']);
+    const counts: Record<string, number> = {};
+    text.toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9\s-]/g, ' ').split(/\s+/).forEach(w => {
+      if (!w || stop.has(w) || w.length < 3) return;
+      counts[w] = (counts[w] || 0) + 1;
+    });
+    const top = Object.entries(counts).sort((a,b)=>b[1]-a[1]).slice(0,5).map(([w])=>w);
+    return top;
+  }
+
+  private slugify(title: string): string {
+    return (title || '')
+      .toLowerCase()
+      .replace(/[^a-z0-9\s-]/g, '')
+      .trim()
+      .replace(/\s+/g, '-')
+      .replace(/-+/g, '-')
+      .slice(0, 80);
+  }
 }