Skip to main content
Reference BIMI

BIMI prerequisites: what you need before BIMI works

BIMI displays your brand logo next to your email in supporting inboxes (Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo, AOL). It only works if your domain is at DMARC enforcement AND your logo is a properly-formatted SVG Tiny PS. As of early 2025, Gmail and Yahoo display the logo with a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or a Common Mark Certificate (CMC); Apple Mail requires a VMC, and Gmail's blue verified checkmark requires a VMC.

TL;DR

  • 1 DMARC at enforcement: p=quarantine or p=reject (and not in t=y test mode). p=none won't work.
  • 2 Logo must be SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG-PS). Most agency-supplied SVGs need conversion.
  • 3 Gmail and Yahoo display the logo with a VMC ($1.5K-$2K/yr from Entrust or DigiCert) or a CMC (the no-trademark path); Apple Mail and Gmail's blue checkmark require a VMC.

What it does

BIMI is the visual reward for being good at DMARC. Once your domain is at enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject, not in t=y test mode), publish a BIMI record pointing to your SVG logo URL plus a certificate (a VMC, or a CMC for the no-trademark path). Supporting receivers display your logo in the avatar slot. A strong visual trust signal in inboxes flooded with phishing.

Three logo formats exist (SVG Basic, SVG Tiny PS, SVG Standard). BIMI requires SVG Tiny PS specifically. Standard design tools (Illustrator, Figma) export Standard SVG by default; you need to convert.

How it works

  1. 1

    Get your DMARC to p=quarantine or p=reject at enforcement (not t=y test mode). BIMI explicitly fails if p=none.

  2. 2

    Convert your logo to SVG Tiny PS. Use a converter (search 'SVG to BIMI SVG'. Several free tools exist) and validate at bimigroup.org/svg-validator.

  3. 3

    Host the SVG on HTTPS. Same domain or a CDN, but HTTPS-only and a stable URL.

  4. 4

    Get a certificate from Entrust or DigiCert: a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) if you have a registered trademark, or a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) if you don't. Gmail and Yahoo display the logo with either; Apple Mail and Gmail's blue verified checkmark require a VMC.

  5. 5

    Publish a BIMI record at default._bimi.yourdomain pointing to the SVG URL and the certificate URL (a=tag).

Example record

default._bimi.yourdomain.com TXT Click to select
v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/vmc.pem

Common pitfalls

  • Publishing BIMI while still at p=none. Receivers silently ignore. No error, no logo, no signal you've messed up.

  • Logo isn't Tiny PS. Validation tools will tell you exactly what's wrong (often: unsupported filter, gradient, or external font reference).

  • Trademark required for VMC. Self-drawn / borrowed logos won't qualify for a VMC even if the SVG is valid; a CMC (the no-trademark path) covers Gmail and Yahoo logo display but not Apple Mail or Gmail's blue verified checkmark.

  • Path-only selectors. Many tutorials show default._bimi but you can publish per-subsidiary (selector._bimi.yourdomain). Make sure your sending From: aligns with where you published the record.