BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) lets supporting mailboxes show your logo next to your messages. It's the last step, not the first. It only works once DMARC is enforcing, and Gmail also wants a paid certificate.
What it needs
- DMARC at enforcement:
p=quarantineorp=reject, applied to all mail (nopctbelow 100), with subdomains not set tosp=none. - Your logo as an SVG in the Tiny Portable/Secure profile (SVG Tiny PS), square, served over HTTPS. Most design tools don't export this profile directly; the BIMI Group publishes conversion guidance.
- A mark certificate for Gmail and Apple Mail. A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) needs a registered trademark and earns the checkmark in Gmail. A Common Mark Certificate (CMC) doesn't need a trademark; Gmail shows the logo without the checkmark. A handful of certificate authorities issue them, and they renew yearly.
- The BIMI record itself:
| Type | Name (host) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| TXT | default._bimi | v=BIMI1; l=https://yourcompany.com/bimi/logo.svg; a=https://yourcompany.com/bimi/certificate.pem |
Is it worth it?
For a brand that sends a lot of mail to consumers and already owns a trademark, often yes. A recognisable logo in a crowded inbox counts for something. For a small B2B business, probably not yet: the certificate is a yearly cost, and many business recipients read mail in Outlook, which doesn't show BIMI logos. Getting DMARC to enforcement is worth doing either way. BIMI is optional on top.
Common mistakes
- DMARC still at
p=none, so receivers ignore the BIMI record entirely. - A regular SVG instead of SVG Tiny PS, or a logo served over plain HTTP.
- A record with
a=left empty, and then wondering why Gmail shows nothing.
Questions people ask
Which mailboxes show BIMI logos?
Gmail and Apple Mail, with a certificate. Yahoo Mail can show logos for senders with a good reputation. Outlook doesn't support BIMI.
Does BIMI improve deliverability?
Not directly. The DMARC enforcement it requires protects your domain from spoofing, and that's the real benefit.
Related guides
- Moving DMARC from p=none to reject without losing mail The order of steps, how long to wait, and what to look for first.
- Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook sender requirements, in plain English What Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com enforce, as a checklist.
DNS only shows part of the picture. If mail is still landing in spam with every record right, the deliverability audit looks at the rest: blocklists, reputation, bounces, content and the sending setup.