BIMI
BIMI displays your brand's verified logo next to authenticated emails in Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo, and other supporting inboxes.
BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an email standard that displays a brand's verified logo next to authenticated messages in supporting inboxes.
Definition and examples
BIMI is a DNS TXT record published at default._bimi.yourdomain.com that points mailbox providers to a square SVG version of your logo (SVG Tiny PS profile) and, in most cases, a certificate proving you own it. When a message passes authentication, supporting inboxes such as Gmail, Yahoo, Fastmail, and Apple Mail (iOS 16 and macOS Ventura or later) can display the logo next to the sender name.
BIMI only works on top of DMARC at enforcement: your policy must be p=quarantine or p=reject, not p=none. Gmail additionally requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or Common Mark Certificate (CMC) before it shows the logo and its verified checkmark.
Why it matters
A verified logo makes your messages recognizable and signals that your domain cannot be trivially spoofed. The bigger win is often the prerequisite: reaching DMARC enforcement hardens your domain against phishing whether or not the logo ever displays.
Common mistakes
A common mistake is publishing a BIMI record while DMARC still sits at p=none, which no provider accepts. Others include using a logo file that is not the SVG Tiny PS profile, or expecting the logo to appear in Gmail without a VMC or CMC. If you are starting from scratch, generate an enforceable policy with the DMARC generator first.