You can get your brand logo displayed in email inboxes by implementing BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification), an email authentication standard that pulls your logo from a hosted SVG file and displays it next to your sender name. To make it work, your domain needs a strong DMARC policy in place, and depending on the inbox provider, you may also need a Verified Mark Certificate. The sections below walk through every step of the process, from understanding what BIMI is to publishing your DNS record.
What is BIMI and how does it show your logo in inboxes?
BIMI is an email authentication standard that allows brands to display their official logo in the inbox next to the sender name. It works by linking your domain’s DNS configuration to a hosted SVG image file. When a receiving mail server processes your email, it checks your BIMI DNS record, retrieves the logo file, and passes it to the inbox provider for display, all before the recipient even opens the message.
The practical effect is that subscribers see a recognizable, branded avatar instead of a generic initial or placeholder icon. This builds visual trust at the inbox level, before the subject line even does its job. BIMI sits on top of your existing email authentication stack, specifically DMARC, DKIM, and SPF, and relies on those passing checks to confirm you are the legitimate sender before your logo is shown.
For marketers, the value goes beyond aesthetics. A consistent, verified logo in the inbox signals to recipients that the email is authentic, which can reduce the likelihood of messages being ignored or mistaken for phishing attempts. It also reinforces brand recognition across every send, regardless of whether the email is opened.
Which email clients and inbox providers support BIMI?
As of 2026, BIMI is supported by Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail (on iOS and macOS), Fastmail, and a growing number of other inbox providers. Gmail and Yahoo have the widest user bases among BIMI-enabled providers, which means implementing BIMI can immediately affect logo display for a significant portion of most senders’ audiences.
Support does vary by provider in terms of requirements. Gmail, for example, requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) before it will display your logo. Yahoo Mail has historically displayed logos with a VMC but has also experimented with supporting BIMI without one for senders who meet strict DMARC enforcement. Apple Mail introduced BIMI support with its own requirements, including a VMC for verified display.
Outlook and Microsoft 365 have their own separate logo display system called BIMI-adjacent indicators, but they do not currently support the BIMI standard directly. This means a portion of your audience on Microsoft mail clients may not see your BIMI logo, even if it is correctly configured for other providers. It is worth tracking provider announcements, as adoption continues to expand year over year.
Do you need a Verified Mark Certificate to enable BIMI?
A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) is not always required to publish a BIMI record, but it is required by most major inbox providers, including Gmail, before they will display your logo. A VMC is a digital certificate issued by a certified authority that cryptographically verifies your ownership of the trademarked logo you are displaying. Without it, providers like Gmail will simply ignore your BIMI record.
The VMC process involves having a registered trademark for the logo you intend to display. The certification authority checks that the trademark is active and that the logo in your SVG file matches the registered mark. This requirement exists to prevent bad actors from impersonating brands by spoofing BIMI records with unauthorized logos.
For smaller senders or those whose logos are not yet trademarked, this creates a real barrier. Trademark registration takes time and involves costs, and the VMC itself adds another layer of investment. However, for established brands with registered trademarks, the VMC process is straightforward, and the resulting inbox presence is a meaningful trust signal worth the effort.
What DMARC policy is required before setting up BIMI?
Before BIMI will function, your domain must have a DMARC policy set to either quarantine or reject. A DMARC policy of none is not sufficient. Most inbox providers also require that the policy applies to 100% of your mail, meaning the pct tag in your DMARC record should be set to 100, or omitted entirely since 100 is the default.
DMARC itself requires that both SPF and DKIM are properly configured for your sending domain. BIMI is intentionally designed to reward senders who have already done the foundational authentication work. The logic is straightforward: only domains that have demonstrated control over their email stream and enforced authentication policies should be permitted to display a verified logo.
If your DMARC policy is currently at none, the path to BIMI starts with moving through the enforcement stages. Begin by monitoring your DMARC reports to understand your email traffic, then gradually move to quarantine, and eventually to reject once you are confident all legitimate mail is passing authentication. Rushing this process without reviewing your reports can result in legitimate email being blocked.
How do you create and host the SVG logo file for BIMI?
BIMI requires your logo to be in a specific SVG format called SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG P/S). This is a restricted subset of the full SVG specification, designed to be safe for rendering in email clients without supporting scripts, external references, or complex features. Standard SVG files exported from design tools like Adobe Illustrator or Sketch will almost always need to be converted or cleaned up to meet the P/S specification.
Creating the correct SVG format
Your SVG file must declare the correct SVG Tiny 1.2 namespace and profile in the file header. It should contain only a square aspect ratio (1:1), no embedded fonts, no raster images, no animations, and no external references. Several online validators and conversion tools are available specifically for BIMI SVG compliance. The BIMI Group, the organization behind the standard, provides a free SVG validator you can use to check your file before publishing.
Hosting the SVG file
Once your SVG is correctly formatted, it must be hosted on a publicly accessible HTTPS URL on your domain. The file must be served over HTTPS, not HTTP. The hosting location should be stable and reliable since inbox providers will fetch this file when processing your emails. A broken or slow URL can result in your logo not displaying even when your DNS record is correctly configured. Many brands host the file in a dedicated directory on their main domain or on a CDN for reliability.
How do you add the BIMI DNS record to your domain?
Adding a BIMI DNS record involves creating a TXT record in your domain’s DNS settings at the subdomain default._bimi followed by your domain name. The record value follows a specific format that includes the BIMI version, the URL of your hosted SVG file, and optionally the URL of your VMC. The record is published through your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider, exactly like any other DNS record.
The basic structure of a BIMI TXT record looks like this:
- Name/Host: default._bimi.yourdomain.com
- Type: TXT
- Value: v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/path/to/logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/path/to/vmc.pem
The l= tag points to your SVG logo file. The a= tag points to your VMC certificate file, which is required for providers like Gmail. If you are testing BIMI on a provider that does not require a VMC, you can omit the a= tag temporarily, but you will need to add it before Gmail will display your logo.
After publishing the record, DNS propagation typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours. You can use BIMI-specific lookup tools or standard DNS checkers to confirm the record is resolving correctly. Once propagation is complete and all supporting authentication checks pass, eligible inbox providers will begin displaying your logo on qualifying sends.
How Email Industries helps with BIMI implementation
Getting BIMI right requires more than just publishing a DNS record. It depends on having a solid authentication foundation, a correctly formatted logo file, and in most cases a valid VMC tied to a registered trademark. We help brands navigate every layer of this process so nothing falls through the cracks. Here is what we bring to the table:
- DMARC audit and enforcement guidance to move your policy from none to reject safely, without disrupting legitimate mail flows
- SPF and DKIM configuration review to make sure your full authentication stack is solid before BIMI is layered on top
- SVG logo validation to confirm your file meets the SVG Tiny P/S specification required by inbox providers
- BIMI DNS record setup and testing to verify the record resolves correctly and that your logo displays as expected across supported clients
- VMC guidance to help you understand the trademark and certification requirements for Gmail and other providers that require verified marks
Whether you are starting from scratch with email authentication or ready to take the final step toward inbox logo display, our services are built to meet you where you are. If you want to get your brand logo showing up in inboxes as quickly and correctly as possible, explore our deliverability assurance packages or get in touch with us directly to talk through your setup.
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