diff --git a/js/nostr.js b/js/nostr.js
index 00c8dc1d..7651ae9c 100644
--- a/js/nostr.js
+++ b/js/nostr.js
@@ -2465,6 +2465,7 @@ class NostrClient {
       return {
         total: Array.isArray(events) ? events.length : 0,
         perRelay: [],
+        best: null,
         fallback: true,
       };
     }
@@ -2539,6 +2540,7 @@ class NostrClient {
     return {
       total: Array.isArray(events) ? events.length : 0,
       perRelay: [],
+      best: null,
       fallback: true,
     };
   }
@@ -4766,7 +4768,7 @@ class NostrClient {
   async countEventsAcrossRelays(filters, options = {}) {
     const normalizedFilters = this.normalizeCountFilters(filters);
     if (!normalizedFilters.length) {
-      return { total: 0, perRelay: [] };
+      return { total: 0, best: null, perRelay: [] };
     }
 
     const relayList =
@@ -4776,7 +4778,7 @@ class NostrClient {
         ? this.relays
         : RELAY_URLS;
 
-    const perRelay = await Promise.all(
+    const perRelayResults = await Promise.all(
       relayList.map(async (url) => {
         try {
           const frame = await this.sendRawCountFrame(url, normalizedFilters, {
@@ -4793,15 +4795,47 @@ class NostrClient {
       })
     );
 
-    const total = perRelay.reduce((sum, entry) => {
+    let bestEstimate = null;
+    const perRelay = perRelayResults.map((entry) => {
       if (!entry || !entry.ok) {
-        return sum;
+        return entry;
       }
-      const value = Number(entry.count);
-      return Number.isFinite(value) && value > 0 ? sum + value : sum;
-    }, 0);
 
-    return { total, perRelay };
+      const numericValue = Number(entry.count);
+      const normalizedCount =
+        Number.isFinite(numericValue) && numericValue >= 0 ? numericValue : 0;
+
+      const normalizedEntry = {
+        ...entry,
+        count: normalizedCount,
+      };
+
+      if (!Number.isFinite(numericValue) || numericValue < 0) {
+        normalizedEntry.rawCount = entry.count;
+      }
+
+      if (
+        !bestEstimate ||
+        normalizedCount > bestEstimate.count ||
+        (bestEstimate && normalizedCount === bestEstimate.count && !bestEstimate.frame)
+      ) {
+        bestEstimate = {
+          relay: normalizedEntry.url,
+          count: normalizedCount,
+          frame: normalizedEntry.frame,
+        };
+      }
+
+      return normalizedEntry;
+    });
+
+    const total = bestEstimate ? bestEstimate.count : 0;
+
+    return {
+      total,
+      best: bestEstimate,
+      perRelay,
+    };
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/js/viewCounter.js b/js/viewCounter.js
index cd38164c..72ab3350 100644
--- a/js/viewCounter.js
+++ b/js/viewCounter.js
@@ -485,10 +485,18 @@ async function hydratePointer(key, listeners) {
       mutated = applyEventToState(key, event) || mutated;
     }
   }
-  if (countResult && Number.isFinite(countResult.total)) {
+  const bestCount = Number.isFinite(countResult?.best?.count)
+    ? Number(countResult.best.count)
+    : Number.isFinite(countResult?.total)
+    ? Number(countResult.total)
+    : null;
+
+  if (bestCount !== null) {
     const state = ensurePointerState(key);
-    if (countResult.total > state.total) {
-      state.total = Number(countResult.total);
+    const shouldUpdate =
+      !countResult?.fallback || bestCount >= state.total || state.total === 0;
+    if (shouldUpdate && state.total !== bestCount) {
+      state.total = bestCount;
       state.lastSyncedAt = Date.now();
       mutated = true;
     }
diff --git a/tests/view-counter.test.mjs b/tests/view-counter.test.mjs
index 043cb8be..897ccdda 100644
--- a/tests/view-counter.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/view-counter.test.mjs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ const { nostrClient } = await import("../js/nostr.js");
 
 function createMockNostrHarness() {
   const storedEvents = new Map();
-  const customTotals = new Map();
+  const customCountResults = new Map();
   const subscribers = new Map();
   const metrics = { list: 0, count: 0 };
 
@@ -108,11 +108,37 @@ function createMockNostrHarness() {
   const countVideoViewEvents = async (pointer) => {
     metrics.count += 1;
     const key = pointerKeyFromInput(pointer);
-    if (customTotals.has(key)) {
-      return { total: customTotals.get(key) };
+    if (customCountResults.has(key)) {
+      const stored = customCountResults.get(key);
+      if (stored && typeof stored === "object" && !Array.isArray(stored)) {
+        const totalValue = Number(stored.total);
+        const normalizedTotal =
+          Number.isFinite(totalValue) && totalValue >= 0 ? totalValue : 0;
+        const perRelay = Array.isArray(stored.perRelay)
+          ? stored.perRelay.map((entry) =>
+              entry && typeof entry === "object" ? { ...entry } : entry
+            )
+          : [];
+        const result = {
+          total: normalizedTotal,
+          perRelay,
+          best:
+            stored.best && typeof stored.best === "object"
+              ? { ...stored.best }
+              : null,
+        };
+        if (stored.fallback) {
+          result.fallback = true;
+        }
+        return result;
+      }
+      const numericTotal = Number(stored);
+      const normalizedTotal =
+        Number.isFinite(numericTotal) && numericTotal >= 0 ? numericTotal : 0;
+      return { total: normalizedTotal, perRelay: [], best: null };
     }
     const events = storedEvents.get(key) || [];
-    return { total: events.length };
+    return { total: events.length, perRelay: [], best: null };
   };
 
   const subscribeVideoViewEvents = (pointer, options = {}) => {
@@ -152,16 +178,22 @@ function createMockNostrHarness() {
   };
 
   const setCountTotal = (key, total) => {
-    if (Number.isFinite(total)) {
-      customTotals.set(key, Number(total));
+    if (
+      typeof total === "object" &&
+      total !== null &&
+      !Array.isArray(total)
+    ) {
+      customCountResults.set(key, JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(total)));
+    } else if (Number.isFinite(total)) {
+      customCountResults.set(key, Number(total));
     } else {
-      customTotals.delete(key);
+      customCountResults.delete(key);
     }
   };
 
   const reset = () => {
     storedEvents.clear();
-    customTotals.clear();
+    customCountResults.clear();
     subscribers.clear();
     resetMetrics();
   };
@@ -319,6 +351,45 @@ async function testHydrationSkipsStaleEventsAndRollsOff() {
   }
 }
 
+async function testRelayCountAggregationUsesBestEstimate() {
+  localStorage.clear();
+  harness.reset();
+  harness.resetMetrics();
+
+  const pointer = { type: "e", value: "view-counter-multi-relay" };
+  const pointerKey = harness.pointerKeyFromInput(pointer);
+
+  harness.setEvents(pointerKey, []);
+  harness.setCountTotal(pointerKey, {
+    total: 5,
+    best: { relay: "wss://relay.alpha", count: 5 },
+    perRelay: [
+      { url: "wss://relay.alpha", ok: true, count: 5 },
+      { url: "wss://relay.beta", ok: true, count: 5 },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  const updates = [];
+  const token = subscribeToVideoViewCount(pointer, (state) => {
+    updates.push({ ...state });
+  });
+
+  try {
+    await flushPromises();
+    await flushPromises();
+
+    const final = updates.at(-1);
+    assert.ok(final, "expected hydration update for aggregated relay counts");
+    assert.equal(
+      final.total,
+      5,
+      "identical relay COUNT responses should not be double-counted"
+    );
+  } finally {
+    unsubscribeFromVideoViewCount(pointer, token);
+  }
+}
+
 async function testLocalIngestNotifiesImmediately() {
   localStorage.clear();
   harness.reset();
@@ -458,5 +529,6 @@ await testDedupesWithinWindow();
 await testHydrationSkipsStaleEventsAndRollsOff();
 await testLocalIngestNotifiesImmediately();
 await testUnsubscribeStopsCallbacks();
+await testRelayCountAggregationUsesBestEstimate();
 
 console.log("View counter tests completed successfully.");