BIMI is the standard that puts a brand logo next to messages in the inbox list. It is frequently described as a deliverability feature, which it is not, and the prerequisites are more demanding than most write-ups suggest.
What it does
In a supporting mail client, messages from a BIMI-configured domain display your logo where the client would otherwise show an avatar or initial. That is the entire feature. It makes your mail more recognisable in a crowded list, which matters more for a consumer brand competing with fifty other senders than for a B2B message someone is expecting.
The prerequisite that stops most people
BIMI requires a DMARC policy of p=quarantine or p=reject. A policy of p=none does not qualify, and this is not negotiable — the standard exists to display a logo only for mail that is provably authentic, so enforcement is the point.
For most organisations this is the real work. Getting to enforcement means finding every system that sends as your domain and authenticating it, which is a project measured in weeks rather than an afternoon. Our DMARC rollout guide covers the staged approach.
Worth saying plainly: if BIMI is what finally motivates you to reach p=reject, the DMARC enforcement is worth considerably more than the logo.
The logo requirements
The image must be SVG Tiny Portable/Secure, a restricted profile of SVG. Ordinary SVG exported from a design tool will not validate. Specifically it must:
- Use the SVG Tiny PS profile, with the correct baseProfile declaration.
- Be square — equal width and height.
- Have a solid background colour, not transparency.
- Contain no scripts, no animation, and no references to external files.
- Include a title element naming the brand.
- Be served over HTTPS from a URL you control.
Budget time for conversion. Most brand SVGs need hand-editing to comply, and validators are unforgiving.
The certificate question
Some providers display a BIMI logo with just the DNS record and a compliant image. Gmail additionally requires a Verified Mark Certificate, which:
- Is issued by a small number of authorised certificate authorities.
- Requires the logo to be a registered trademark in a recognised jurisdiction.
- Carries a meaningful annual cost, renewed yearly.
- Takes weeks to issue, because the trademark is verified manually.
The trademark requirement is the hard gate. If your logo is not registered, you cannot obtain a VMC, and registering a trademark is itself a months-long process. Since Gmail is usually where senders want the logo to appear, this makes BIMI effectively unavailable to a great many businesses.
The DNS record
Once the prerequisites are met, the record itself is simple:
default._bimi.yourdomain.com TXT v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/vmc.pemThe l tag points at the logo, and a at the certificate where you have one. Omit a if you do not, accepting that Gmail will not display the logo.
Who should bother
Worth it for: established consumer brands with a registered trademark, high email volume, and an existing DMARC enforcement policy. In that situation recognition is genuine value and the marginal cost is a certificate you can absorb.
Not worth it for: B2B senders whose recipients already know who they are, small businesses without a registered trademark, and anyone doing cold outreach — where the recipient has no prior relationship with your logo and a VMC would be an odd priority.
The honest summary is that BIMI's main practical benefit for most organisations is that pursuing it forces them to finish their DMARC rollout. That outcome is available without the certificate, and it is the part that actually affects whether your mail arrives. You can check your current DMARC policy in a few seconds with our free authentication checker.