diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch.go b/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch.go
index a00aa3ce..11d69bff 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch.go
@@ -121,7 +121,11 @@ type GPUSearchStore interface {
 var (
 	searchLong = `Search instance types available on Brev.
 
-Use 'brev search gpu' (default) to find GPU instances.
+The search command has two subcommands:
+  gpu   Search GPU instance types (default when no subcommand is given)
+  cpu   Search CPU-only instance types
+
+Use 'brev search' or 'brev search gpu' to find GPU instances.
 Use 'brev search cpu' to find CPU-only instances.
 
 Features column shows instance capabilities:
@@ -213,9 +217,28 @@ func NewCmdGPUSearch(t *terminal.Terminal, store GPUSearchStore) *cobra.Command
 		Use:                   "search",
 		Aliases:               []string{},
 		DisableFlagsInUseLine: true,
-		Short:                 "Search and filter instance types",
+		Short:                 "Search GPU and CPU instance types",
 		Long:                  searchLong,
 		Example:               gpuExample,
+		ValidArgs:             []string{"cpu", "gpu"},
+		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			// The parent runs GPU search by default when no positional args are
+			// given. Unknown positional tokens (e.g. "cpus", "CPU", "badcmd")
+			// do not match the cpu/gpu subcommands, so cobra falls back to the
+			// parent; reject them with a helpful error instead of silently
+			// running GPU search.
+			if len(args) == 0 {
+				return nil
+			}
+			path := cmd.CommandPath()
+			return breverrors.NewValidationError(fmt.Sprintf(
+				"unknown subcommand %q for %q.\n"+
+					"Available subcommands: cpu, gpu.\n"+
+					"Use %q (default) or %q gpu for GPU instances; use %q cpu for CPU-only instances.\n"+
+					"Run %q --help for more details.",
+				args[0], path, path, path, path, path,
+			))
+		},
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			// Default behavior: GPU search
 			return RunGPUSearch(t, store, gpuName, shared.provider, shared.arch, minVRAM, minTotalVRAM, minCapability, shared.minRAM, shared.minDisk, shared.minVCPU, shared.maxBootTime, shared.stoppable, shared.rebootable, shared.flexPorts, shared.sortBy, shared.descending, shared.jsonOutput, wide)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch_test.go b/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch_test.go
index cbc40f1d..5749d3a6 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gpusearch/gpusearch_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package gpusearch
 import (
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/brevdev/brev-cli/pkg/terminal"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -625,3 +626,82 @@ func TestAllInstanceTypesResponseLookup(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.False(t, resp.HasInstanceType(""))
 	})
 }
+
+// trackingStore is a GPUSearchStore mock that records the includeCPU flag passed to
+// GetInstanceTypes so command dispatch tests can assert which search path executed.
+// It returns an empty (but non-nil) response by default so RunGPUSearch/RunCPUSearch
+// hit the empty-results path and return nil without rendering a table.
+type trackingStore struct {
+	Response *InstanceTypesResponse
+	Err      error
+	calls    []bool
+}
+
+func (m *trackingStore) GetInstanceTypes(includeCPU bool) (*InstanceTypesResponse, error) {
+	m.calls = append(m.calls, includeCPU)
+	if m.Err != nil {
+		return nil, m.Err
+	}
+	if m.Response != nil {
+		return m.Response, nil
+	}
+	return &InstanceTypesResponse{Items: []InstanceType{}}, nil
+}
+
+func TestSearchCommandDefaultsToGPUSearchWhenNoArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	store := &trackingStore{}
+	cmd := NewCmdGPUSearch(terminal.New(), store)
+	cmd.SetArgs([]string{})
+
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, store.calls, 1, "default search should call the store once")
+	assert.False(t, store.calls[0], "default search should request GPU instances (includeCPU=false)")
+}
+
+func TestSearchCommandGPUSubcommandDispatchesToGPUSearch(t *testing.T) {
+	store := &trackingStore{}
+	cmd := NewCmdGPUSearch(terminal.New(), store)
+	cmd.SetArgs([]string{"gpu"})
+
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, store.calls, 1, "gpu subcommand should call the store once")
+	assert.False(t, store.calls[0], "gpu subcommand should request GPU instances (includeCPU=false)")
+}
+
+func TestSearchCommandCPUSubcommandDispatchesToCPUSearch(t *testing.T) {
+	store := &trackingStore{}
+	cmd := NewCmdGPUSearch(terminal.New(), store)
+	cmd.SetArgs([]string{"cpu"})
+
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, store.calls, 1, "cpu subcommand should call the store once")
+	assert.True(t, store.calls[0], "cpu subcommand should request CPU instances (includeCPU=true)")
+}
+
+func TestSearchCommandRejectsUnknownPositionalTokens(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args []string
+	}{
+		{"plural cpus", []string{"cpus"}},
+		{"uppercase CPU", []string{"CPU"}},
+		{"uppercase GPU", []string{"GPU"}},
+		{"arbitrary badcmd", []string{"badcmd"}},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			store := &trackingStore{}
+			cmd := NewCmdGPUSearch(terminal.New(), store)
+			cmd.SetArgs(tt.args)
+
+			err := cmd.Execute()
+			assert.Error(t, err)
+			assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "unknown subcommand")
+			assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "Available subcommands: cpu, gpu")
+			assert.Empty(t, store.calls, "unknown subcommand should not call the store")
+		})
+	}
+}