Sending anonymous inspectors from the world’s top dining guide to eat at all of California’s best restaurants and emerging gems isn’t cheap — it costs at least $600,000.

That’s the figure that tourism board Visit California is paying the Michelin Guide to expand its coverage beyond the Bay Area to the entire state. Michelin’s distinctive red books are often seen as the top marker of prestige in the international restaurant world, with star ratings drawing audiences to fine-dining destinations such as the French Laundry in Yountville and Benu in San Francisco.

Since the new deal is effectively sponsorship, it raises questions about the integrity of Michelin California’s ratings as well as its future guides worldwide. Will stars be doled out to more regions in the name of inclusion, and will that ultimately dilute the guide’s reputation?

The $600,000 will “underwrite the hard costs of expanding the presence of Michelin inspectors throughout the state,” according to a statement from Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. It will sponsor Michelin California for one year, although there are expectations for Michelin to continue to inspect statewide beyond the initial June release. Food industry newsletter the Family Meal first broke the news of the financial agreement.

Visit California would not elaborate on what exactly that money will fund — possibly Michelin inspector salaries, meals, hotels or travel, for example — and Michelin declined to comment on the financial terms of the arrangement. Visit California’s budget comes from assessments from businesses related to the tourism industry, including restaurants, hotels and car rental agencies, and not taxpayer money, according to the nonprofit tourism board, whose main purpose is to attract tourism to the state.

The California deal is the first of its kind in the United States, but tourism boards paying Michelin to create a guide in their region is not unprecedented. In 2016, Michelin headed to Seoul for the first time, and the state-run Korean Tourism Board pays approximately $350,000 to commission the book annually, as reported by the Washington Post. The Tourism Authority of Thailand reportedly spends $880,000 per year for Michelin credentials, according to CNN.

According to a 2017 report in the Washington Post, Michelin’s existing guides to San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., received no sponsorship funds from tourism agencies.

The funded guides have led many to wonder whether such ratings can expected to be impartial when they are subsidized by an industry that will profit from them. For its part, Michelin — which started publishing a guide in France in 1920 and has since grown to cover more than 30 regions across Europe, the United States and Asia — insists that sponsorships don’t influence ratings or which restaurants get chosen for the guides.

“The involvement of tourism boards, or similar entities, in publishing a new guide does not bear any influence whatsoever regarding the inspectors’ judgments for the restaurants in the selection, or the star awards,” Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, wrote in a statement. “The inspectors are absolutely independent. The approach is similar to the so-called ‘separation of church and state’ that divides editorial from advertising in U.S. newspapers and journalism.”

Most of the attention surrounding Michelin’s expansion has focused on Los Angeles, which had its own Michelin Guide briefly from 2008 to 2009. But smaller cities less known for their culinary pedigrees could benefit, too, and the whole effort actually originated in Sacramento.

Sacramento’s tourism board contacted Michelin about getting the state capital in the guide several years ago — something the city’s chefs have wanted for years, but never thought would actually happen.

According to Visit Sacramento President and CEO Mike Testa, Michelin representatives showed interest and eventually proposed the idea of extending the effort to all of California. Visit Sacramento budgeted $50,000 for a splashy launch event last week at the city’s downtown Golden 1 Center arena, followed by a dinner at perpetual hotspot Ella Dining Room & Bar, as well as tours for Michelin staff of a local vineyard and caviar producer.

“I think being included in the guide will do a tremendous amount for Sacramento, even if we don’t get a star,” Testa said.

Sacramento chefs hoping to earn their first Michelin recognition aren’t too concerned about the relationship between Visit California and Michelin Guide. To them, the funding doesn’t change the meaning of the stars.

“Visit California is trying to promote California restaurants — that’s the job they’re supposed to do,” said Chris Barnum-Dann, chef-owner of Sacramento fine dining spot Localis.

Visit California has recently sponsored other food media locally. It was a financial backer behind “Uncrushable,” a 2018 film that TV chef and Bay Area restaurateur Tyler Florence made to document his efforts to raise money for victims of the 2017 Wine Country fires.

Nick Dedier is the owner of two neighborhood restaurants in El Dorado Hills, about 20 miles east of Sacramento. He has a background in Michelin-starred kitchens, including San Francisco’s Gary Danko and Napa Valley’s Auberge du Soleil and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, and sees the California expansion as simultaneously exciting and concerning.

For example, he worries about how well Michelin inspectors can cover such a large area.

“Is there a great restaurant in Bakersfield that will get passed over because it’s Bakersfield? You can’t spread Michelin out that far without missing someone,” he said.

Dedier also wonders how the presence of Michelin will affect the way chefs operate or open future restaurants. In the Bay Area, for example, the first guide in 2006 included just one three-star restaurant: the French Laundry. The latest guide includes eight three-star restaurants — more than any other American city — contributing to San Francisco’s reputation as the country’s fine dining leader.

“We struggle every day to turn our attention to the families and communities that support us day in and day out,” Dedier said. “You have to wonder how many people are going to turn their attention to winning a Michelin star instead.”

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker