What Is BIMI?

The Problem: No Visual Trust Signal in Email

When someone receives an email from your organization, there is no visual indicator that the message is authentic. The sender name and address can be spoofed. Recipients have no easy way to distinguish a legitimate email from a phishing attempt — especially on mobile devices where headers are hidden.

BIMI changes this by putting your verified brand logo directly in the inbox.

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an email standard that displays a verified brand logo next to authenticated emails in supporting inboxes. It requires a DMARC policy set to quarantine or reject, a logo in SVG Tiny PS format, and optionally a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, and Fastmail support BIMI.

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an email standard that lets domain owners display a brand logo next to authenticated emails in supporting email clients. When your emails pass DMARC authentication, the recipient’s email client can show your logo in the avatar slot — right where a generic placeholder icon would normally appear.

BIMI is supported by major email providers including Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, and Fastmail.

How It Works

BIMI builds on top of DMARC. The flow looks like this:

You publish a DMARC policy with p=quarantine or p=reject (enforcement required)
You publish a BIMI DNS record pointing to your logo
When a recipient’s email client receives your message and it passes DMARC, the client looks up your BIMI record
The client fetches your logo and displays it in the inbox

The BIMI DNS Record

You publish a TXT record at default._bimi.yourdomain.com:

default._bimi.yourdomain.com  TXT  "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/vmc.pem"

The tags are:

l= — URL to your logo file (SVG Tiny PS format, hosted via HTTPS)
a= — URL to your Verified Mark Certificate (optional but recommended)

Creating Your BIMI Logo

BIMI requires your logo in a specific format called SVG Tiny PS (Portable/Secure). This is a restricted SVG profile — not just any SVG file will work.

Requirements

Format: SVG Tiny PS with baseProfile="tiny-ps" and version="1.2" attributes
Aspect ratio: Square (1:1)
File size: Maximum 32 KB
Hosting: Must be served over HTTPS (no HTTP)
No scripts: JavaScript is not allowed
No external references: All content must be self-contained
No text elements: The <text> element is not allowed — convert text to paths

How to Create an SVG Tiny PS File

Start with your logo in a vector format. Use a vector editor like Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, or Figma to ensure your logo is clean and square.
Export as SVG from your editor. This produces a standard SVG file that is not yet BIMI-compatible.
Convert to SVG Tiny PS using the official BIMI SVG converter at bimigroup.org/bimi-generator. This tool validates the format, removes disallowed elements (scripts, text, external references), and sets the correct profile attributes.
Verify the file is under 32 KB and the output passes validation.
Host the file on your web server via HTTPS. The URL you use goes in the l= tag of your BIMI record.

Verified Mark Certificates (VMC)

For your logo to appear in Gmail and Apple Mail, you need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). A VMC is a digital certificate that proves you own the trademark for the logo you are publishing.

How VMCs Work

VMCs are issued by certificate authorities such as DigiCert and Entrust
You must have a registered trademark for your logo
The CA verifies your trademark ownership before issuing the certificate
The certificate URL goes in the a= tag of your BIMI record

Do You Need a VMC?

Gmail and Apple Mail: Yes — they require a VMC to display your logo
Yahoo Mail and Fastmail: No — they display BIMI logos without requiring a VMC
Other clients: Support varies

If you do not have a VMC, your logo may still appear in some email clients but not in Gmail or Apple Mail. You can start without a VMC and add one later.

Prerequisites

Before setting up BIMI, you need:

1. DMARC with Enforcement

BIMI requires a DMARC policy of p=quarantine or p=reject. A policy of p=none is not sufficient — email clients will not look up your BIMI record unless your domain actively enforces DMARC.

2. Good DMARC Pass Rates

If a significant portion of your legitimate email fails DMARC authentication, your logo will not be displayed for those messages. Ensure your SPF and DKIM records are correctly configured for all your sending sources.

3. A Square Logo in SVG Tiny PS Format

See the section above on creating your logo file.

4. HTTPS Hosting for Your Logo

The logo URL must use HTTPS with a valid certificate. The server must respond with Content-Type: image/svg+xml.

BIMI Setup Requirements
Requirement	Details
DMARC Policy	p=quarantine or p=reject
Logo Format	SVG Tiny PS, square, max 32 KB
Logo Hosting	HTTPS with valid TLS certificate
VMC Certificate	Required for Gmail and Apple Mail (issued by DigiCert or Entrust)
DNS Record	TXT at default._bimi.yourdomain.com

Setting It Up

Step 1: Verify DMARC Enforcement

Check that your DMARC record has p=quarantine or p=reject:

dig TXT _dmarc.yourdomain.com

Step 2: Prepare and Host Your Logo

Follow the logo creation steps above. Upload the SVG Tiny PS file to your web server.

Step 3: Publish the BIMI Record

Add a TXT record to your DNS:

default._bimi.yourdomain.com  TXT  "v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/brand/logo.svg; a=;"

If you have a VMC, replace a=; with the URL to your certificate file.

Step 4: Test

Send an email to a Gmail or Yahoo account and check whether your logo appears. Note that it may take some time for email clients to pick up the new record.

Common Pitfalls

Wrong SVG format — A regular SVG export from Illustrator or Figma is not BIMI-compatible. You must convert it to SVG Tiny PS.
Logo not square — Non-square logos will be rejected or displayed incorrectly.
HTTP instead of HTTPS — The logo URL must use HTTPS. HTTP URLs will be ignored.
DMARC not enforcing — With p=none, email clients will not look up your BIMI record.
Logo too large — Files over 32 KB will be rejected by some email clients.

Conclusion

BIMI is a powerful way to build brand trust in the inbox. It rewards domains that have already invested in email authentication by giving them a visible brand presence next to every authenticated message.

The setup requires a DMARC enforcing policy, a correctly formatted logo, and a DNS record. For maximum coverage across Gmail and Apple Mail, a VMC is recommended.

Key Takeaways

BIMI displays your verified brand logo next to emails in supporting inboxes
It requires DMARC enforcement with a policy of quarantine or reject
The logo must be in SVG Tiny PS format, square, and under 32 KB
A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) is required for Gmail and Apple Mail
DMARCPulse checks your BIMI readiness and validates your DNS record

DMARCPulse goes beyond simple validation. It checks your BIMI record, verifies that your logo URL is reachable, and confirms the correct content type. If your DNS provider supports Domain Connect, DMARCPulse can set up the BIMI record for you with one click — no manual DNS editing required. For all other providers, DMARCPulse generates the exact DNS record with copy-ready values that you can paste directly into your DNS management panel. Get started today.