What Is BIMI? How Email Brand Logos Work — And Who Qualifies (2026)

公開日 2026-07-06

Figures as of 2026-06-29 · methodology v7. Aggregate census data across 261 million graded domains. See how we grade.

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) lets email clients display your brand logo next to your messages in the inbox. Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, and others show the logo automatically when the domain meets the technical bar. The bar isn’t the logo itself — it’s DMARC enforcement. Across 261 million domains, only 10.59% have DMARC at p=quarantine or p=reject, which means fewer than one in ten domains is even eligible to publish a BIMI record today.

What does BIMI actually do?

BIMI adds a small brand logo to the “sender” slot in supported email clients. When a subscriber sees your logo next to your subject line, they recognise the brand immediately — before they open the message. It is a trust signal, not a spam filter.

Supported clients as of mid-2026: Gmail (all Google Workspace and consumer accounts), Apple Mail (iOS/macOS), Yahoo Mail, AOL, Fastmail, and a growing list of others.

BIMI doesn’t change deliverability directly, but it requires the DMARC configuration that improves deliverability, and the visible logo reduces the chance of a subscriber mistaking your email for phishing — meaning fewer “report spam” clicks.

What are the technical requirements for BIMI?

Three things:

DMARC at p=quarantine or p=reject — this is the gate. p=none doesn’t count. The domain must be actively enforcing DMARC, not just monitoring it.
A valid BIMI record — a DNS TXT record at default._bimi.<yourdomain> pointing to an SVG logo.
An SVG logo — must be a square, SVG Tiny 1.2 format, served over HTTPS. For Gmail specifically, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) from an approved issuer (DigiCert or Entrust) is required to show the logo. Without the VMC, Gmail shows a generic blue checkmark instead of your logo.

The VMC (sometimes called a “verified logo” certificate) costs roughly $1,000–$2,000/year and requires trademark registration in the relevant country. For most organisations the VMC is the cost — the SVG and DNS record are free.

How many domains qualify for BIMI today?

DMARC enforcement is the real gate — and adoption is thin. Across 261 million domains:

10.59% have DMARC at p=quarantine or p=reject — the minimum to publish BIMI.
89.41% have DMARC but at p=none — monitoring only, not eligible for BIMI.
The remaining majority have no DMARC record at all.

Among the 65 million domains that publish any DMARC record, 42.5% have reached enforcement. The rest are stuck in a monitoring phase they may never leave — because p=none requires no action from senders, so there’s no external pressure to tighten.

How do I set up BIMI step by step?

Get DMARC to p=quarantine or p=reject. If you’re at p=none, you need to eliminate SPF and DKIM failures first so you can safely enforce without bouncing legitimate mail. See how to fix DMARC.
Prepare your SVG logo in SVG Tiny 1.2 format, square aspect ratio, hosted on HTTPS. Tools like BIMI Group’s generator can validate it.
Get a VMC (optional, but required for Gmail) from DigiCert or Entrust. Requires an active trademark. Takes 2–4 weeks.

Publish the BIMI DNS record:

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

Omit the a= field if you don’t have a VMC.

Wait for propagation — 24–48 hours, then test in Gmail by sending to a Gmail account from your domain.

Frequently asked questions

What is BIMI in email? BIMI is a DNS-based standard that lets email clients show your brand logo next to your messages in the inbox. It requires DMARC enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject) plus a published SVG logo. Only 10.59% of the 261 million domains we’ve graded have DMARC enforcement, which is the prerequisite.

Does BIMI improve email deliverability? Not directly — BIMI itself is a display standard, not a filtering signal. However it requires DMARC enforcement, which does improve deliverability by authenticating your mail and reducing spoofing. The visible logo also reduces “report spam” clicks from subscribers who might otherwise mistake your email for phishing.

Do I need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for BIMI? Only for Gmail. Other clients (Apple Mail, Yahoo) accept BIMI without a VMC and show your logo based on the DNS record alone. Gmail requires a VMC from an approved issuer (DigiCert or Entrust), which requires a registered trademark.

Can I use BIMI without a trademark? If you only need Apple Mail and Yahoo (not Gmail), yes — you can publish a BIMI record with a logo but no VMC and those clients will display it. Gmail will show a generic checkmark instead of your logo until you get the VMC.

How long does BIMI setup take? The DNS record and SVG: a few hours. If you need a VMC, add 2–4 weeks for the trademark verification process. If you’re starting from p=none DMARC, fixing DMARC safely first can take weeks to months depending on mail volume.

My DMARC is at p=none — can I publish BIMI? No. p=none is monitoring-only and not enforcing. BIMI requires p=quarantine or p=reject. See how to fix DMARC to advance your policy safely.

Check your DMARC and email authentication free

If you don’t yet have DMARC enforcement, that’s the first step toward BIMI — and it’s free to fix. See where your domain stands and what to fix first.

Check your domain → · Fix DMARC → · What is DMARC? → · The 6 stages of DMARC maturity → · How we grade → · Aggregate data only. Data stored and processed in the EU.