Have you noticed some senders display their logo next to emails in Gmail or Apple Mail? That’s BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification). Beyond branding, BIMI is a powerful trust signal, and it relies on flawless email authentication.

What Is BIMI?

BIMI is an email standard that displays your brand logo directly in the recipient’s email client. But it’s not just cosmetic:

  • Trust: a verified logo increases recipient confidence
  • Open rates: studies show a 10-30% increase in opens
  • Anti-spoofing: BIMI requires DMARC at quarantine or reject, which blocks spoofing
  • Brand visibility: your logo appears before the message is even opened

Who Supports BIMI?

Client / ISPBIMI SupportVMC Required?
Gmail✅ Yes✅ Yes
Apple Mail (iOS 16+, macOS Ventura+)✅ Yes❌ No
Yahoo / AOL✅ Yes❌ No
La Poste✅ Yes❌ No
Outlook🔄 In progress,
Fastmail✅ Yes❌ No

Gmail is the only one requiring a VMC (Verified Mark Certificate). Others display the logo based solely on the DNS record.

Prerequisites (Important!)

BIMI is not a deploy-in-5-minutes protocol. It relies on a complete chain of trust:

1. DMARC at quarantine or reject

This is prerequisite #1. Your DMARC record must have an enforcement policy:

v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

or better:

v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

p=none is not sufficient for BIMI.

2. SPF and DKIM Configured

SPF and DKIM must pass and align with your From: domain.

3. A Logo in SVG Tiny PS Format

BIMI requires a very specific format: SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG Tiny PS). This is not a regular SVG:

  • No JavaScript
  • No external links
  • No animations
  • Base profile baseProfile="tiny-ps"
  • Square dimensions recommended
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny-ps"
     viewBox="0 0 100 100" width="100" height="100">
  <!-- Your logo here -->
</svg>

4. (For Gmail) A VMC Certificate

To appear in Gmail, you need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), issued by a certificate authority (DigiCert or Entrust). This requires:

  • A registered trademark (with a recognized intellectual property office)
  • Organization identity verification
  • Cost of ~$1,000-1,500/year

Alternative without VMC: Yahoo, Apple Mail and Fastmail display the BIMI logo without a VMC. If Gmail isn’t your priority, you can start without one.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Verify Your Prerequisites

Run a free audit to check that your SPF, DKIM and DMARC are correct:

Convert your logo to SVG Tiny PS format. Some tools:

  • Illustrator: export as SVG, then manually adapt the profile
  • BIMI Generator (online): converts automatically
  • Validation: test your SVG with a BIMI validator before publishing

Host the SVG file on your web server over HTTPS:

https://yourdomain.com/assets/img/bimi-logo.svg

3. (Optional) Get a VMC

If you’re targeting Gmail:

  1. Verify your trademark is registered
  2. Contact DigiCert or Entrust for a VMC
  3. Provide the SVG logo and trademark evidence
  4. Receive a .pem file (the VMC certificate)
  5. Host it over HTTPS:
https://yourdomain.com/assets/bimi.pem

4. Publish the DNS Record

Create a TXT record for default._bimi.yourdomain.com:

Without VMC:

v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/assets/img/bimi-logo.svg

With VMC:

v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/assets/img/bimi-logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/assets/bimi.pem

5. Verify

Use the BIMI Checker to validate your record:

  • Is the DNS published correctly?
  • Is the SVG accessible and in the right format?
  • Is the VMC valid (if present)?
  • Is DMARC at quarantine or reject?

Impact on Deliverability

BIMI doesn’t directly improve deliverability, but its prerequisites do:

  • DMARC reject protects your domain against spoofing
  • Aligned SPF + DKIM strengthen ISP trust
  • The verified logo increases engagement (opens, clicks), which indirectly improves reputation

It’s a virtuous cycle: better authentication → better deliverability → better engagement → better reputation.

Common Mistakes

  1. DMARC at p=none → BIMI won’t display anywhere
  2. Wrong SVG format → the profile must be tiny-ps, not a regular SVG
  3. Non-square logo → some clients crop or distort the logo
  4. Missing HTTPS → both SVG and VMC must be served over HTTPS
  5. Forgetting subdomains → if you send from news.domain.com, publish BIMI on that subdomain too

BIMI Checklist

  • DMARC p=quarantine or p=reject → check
  • Valid SPF → check
  • DKIM configured → check
  • SVG Tiny PS logo hosted over HTTPS
  • (Gmail) VMC obtained and hosted over HTTPS
  • default._bimi DNS record published
  • Validated with BIMI Checker

Questions? Join the community on Matrix.