diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
index 85a37df7d..6a4f558ca 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
@@ -374,8 +374,8 @@ export const MessageItem: Component<MessageItemProps> = (props) => {
     const alternative = props.modelRouteAlternative;
     if (!alternative) return '';
     return alternative.kind === 'same-model-route'
-      ? `Retry with ${alternative.providerLabel} route`
-      : `Retry with ${alternative.providerLabel} model route`;
+      ? `Switch to ${alternative.providerLabel} route and retry`
+      : `Switch to ${alternative.providerLabel} model route and retry`;
   };
   const hasPreviousModelRoute = (event: StreamDisplayEvent) => {
     const model = event.model?.trim();
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
index 9dc82d358..bf6b49d38 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
@@ -320,8 +320,8 @@ vi.mock('../ChatMessages', () => ({
               }
             >
               {recovery().alternative.kind === 'same-model-route'
-                ? `Retry with ${recovery().alternative.providerLabel} route`
-                : `Retry with ${recovery().alternative.providerLabel} model route`}
+                ? `Switch to ${recovery().alternative.providerLabel} route and retry`
+                : `Switch to ${recovery().alternative.providerLabel} model route and retry`}
             </button>
           )}
         </Show>
@@ -1234,6 +1234,27 @@ describe('AIChat', () => {
       expect(document.activeElement).toBe(textarea);
     });
 
+    it('treats provider readiness request failures as recoverable route status', async () => {
+      const readinessError = new Error('Model provider does not match test provider');
+      mockAIAPI.testProvider.mockRejectedValueOnce(readinessError);
+
+      renderChat();
+
+      await screen.findByText('Selected model route issue');
+
+      expect(screen.getByLabelText('Assistant selected model route status')).toHaveTextContent(
+        'Pulse could not verify the selected model route.',
+      );
+      expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        '[AIChat] Failed to check selected provider readiness:',
+        readinessError,
+      );
+      expect(logger.error).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        '[AIChat] Failed to check selected provider readiness:',
+        readinessError,
+      );
+    });
+
     it('offers an equivalent configured-provider route when the selected provider fails', async () => {
       mockAIAPI.getSettings.mockResolvedValue({
         model: 'deepseek:deepseek-v4-pro',
@@ -1279,9 +1300,9 @@ describe('AIChat', () => {
       renderChat();
 
       const switchButton = await screen.findByRole('button', {
-        name: 'Use OpenRouter route',
+        name: 'Switch to OpenRouter route',
       });
-      expect(switchButton).toHaveTextContent('Use OpenRouter route');
+      expect(switchButton).toHaveTextContent('Switch to OpenRouter route');
 
       fireEvent.click(switchButton);
 
@@ -1330,7 +1351,7 @@ describe('AIChat', () => {
       renderChat();
 
       await screen.findByRole('button', {
-        name: 'Use OpenRouter route',
+        name: 'Switch to OpenRouter route',
       });
 
       const textarea = screen.getByPlaceholderText(
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
index 7b08388ca..963eb7a38 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
@@ -252,9 +252,9 @@ describe('MessageItem', () => {
       expect(alert.textContent).toContain('billing or quota reasons');
 
       const retryViaOpenRouter = screen.getByRole('button', {
-        name: 'Retry with OpenRouter route',
+        name: 'Switch to OpenRouter route and retry',
       });
-      expect(retryViaOpenRouter).toHaveTextContent('Retry with OpenRouter route');
+      expect(retryViaOpenRouter).toHaveTextContent('Switch to OpenRouter route and retry');
       fireEvent.click(retryViaOpenRouter);
       expect(onUseModelRoute).toHaveBeenCalledWith('openrouter:deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro', 'msg-1');
 
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
index 7a273bee2..26c744dde 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
@@ -1973,7 +1973,7 @@ export const AIChat: Component<AIChatProps> = (props) => {
       });
     } catch (error) {
       if (requestId !== providerReadinessRequestId) return;
-      logger.error('[AIChat] Failed to check selected provider readiness:', error);
+      logger.warn('[AIChat] Failed to check selected provider readiness:', error);
       setProviderReadiness({
         status: 'error',
         provider,
@@ -2234,8 +2234,8 @@ export const AIChat: Component<AIChatProps> = (props) => {
     const alternative = providerReadinessAlternative();
     if (!alternative) return '';
     return alternative.kind === 'same-model-route'
-      ? `Use ${alternative.providerLabel} route`
-      : `Use ${alternative.providerLabel} model route`;
+      ? `Switch to ${alternative.providerLabel} route`
+      : `Switch to ${alternative.providerLabel} model route`;
   };
 
   createEffect(() => {