diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index 6b9f21a7..451d321d 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ Starting with v1.31.6, this file will contain a record of major features and upd
 - Added support for setting `%graph_notebook_vis_options` from a variable ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/487))
 - Pinned JupyterLab<4.x to fix Python 3.8/3.10 builds ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/490))
 - Changed datatype of "amount" from String to numeric for "Transaction" vertices in Fraud Graph sample notebook ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/489))
-- Replaced usages of deprecated DataFrame.append method in ML samples([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/495))
+- Replaced usages of deprecated DataFrame.append method in ML samples ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/495))
+- Set Gremlin as default language for PropertyGraph samples in `%seed` ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/497))
 
 ## Release 3.8.1 (April 17, 2023)
 - Reinstate Python 3.7 support for compatibility with legacy AL1 Neptune Notebooks ([Link to PR](https://github.com/aws/graph-notebook/pull/479))
diff --git a/src/graph_notebook/magics/graph_magic.py b/src/graph_notebook/magics/graph_magic.py
index 2ffd6bec..a080203a 100644
--- a/src/graph_notebook/magics/graph_magic.py
+++ b/src/graph_notebook/magics/graph_magic.py
@@ -2543,6 +2543,8 @@ def on_button_clicked(b=None):
                     selected_model = 'propertygraph'
                     if normed_language in ['gremlin', 'opencypher']:
                         selected_language = normed_language
+                    elif normed_language == '':
+                        selected_language = 'gremlin'
                 else:
                     selected_model = 'rdf'
                     selected_language = 'sparql'
diff --git a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/02-Visualization/Grouping-and-Appearance-Customization-Gremlin.ipynb b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/02-Visualization/Grouping-and-Appearance-Customization-Gremlin.ipynb
index a5f99dd7..2fbd7bbf 100644
--- a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/02-Visualization/Grouping-and-Appearance-Customization-Gremlin.ipynb
+++ b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/02-Visualization/Grouping-and-Appearance-Customization-Gremlin.ipynb
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "%seed --model Property_Graph --dataset airports --run"
+    "%seed --model Property_Graph --language gremlin --dataset airports --run"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/01-Fraud-Graphs/01-Building-a-Fraud-Graph-Application.ipynb b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/01-Fraud-Graphs/01-Building-a-Fraud-Graph-Application.ipynb
index 724d7576..871d1ad0 100644
--- a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/01-Fraud-Graphs/01-Building-a-Fraud-Graph-Application.ipynb
+++ b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/01-Fraud-Graphs/01-Building-a-Fraud-Graph-Application.ipynb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "%seed --model Property_Graph --dataset fraud_graph --run"
+    "%seed --model Property_Graph --language gremlin --dataset fraud_graph --run"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -893,4 +893,4 @@
  },
  "nbformat": 4,
  "nbformat_minor": 5
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/02-Knowledge-Graphs/Building-a-Knowledge-Graph-Application-Gremlin.ipynb b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/02-Knowledge-Graphs/Building-a-Knowledge-Graph-Application-Gremlin.ipynb
index 60b61677..94b71bbb 100644
--- a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/02-Knowledge-Graphs/Building-a-Knowledge-Graph-Application-Gremlin.ipynb
+++ b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/02-Knowledge-Graphs/Building-a-Knowledge-Graph-Application-Gremlin.ipynb
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "%seed --model Property_Graph --dataset knowledge-graph --run"
+    "%seed --model Property_Graph --language gremlin --dataset knowledge-graph --run"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/03-Identity-Graphs/01-Building-an-Identity-Graph-Application.ipynb b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/03-Identity-Graphs/01-Building-an-Identity-Graph-Application.ipynb
index 91616a74..d463fa1e 100644
--- a/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/03-Identity-Graphs/01-Building-an-Identity-Graph-Application.ipynb
+++ b/src/graph_notebook/notebooks/03-Sample-Applications/03-Identity-Graphs/01-Building-an-Identity-Graph-Application.ipynb
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "%seed --model Property_Graph --dataset identity --run"
+    "%seed --model Property_Graph --language gremlin --dataset identity --run"
    ]
   },
   {