Do I need a VMC for BIMI to work?

For Gmail and Apple Mail, yes — both now require a Verified Mark Certificate referenced in the a= tag before they'll display your logo. Yahoo will show a logo from an SVG alone. So you can launch logo-only and reach Yahoo, but to cover the inboxes that matter most you'll need a VMC, which requires a registered trademark and a paid certificate from a CA like DigiCert or Entrust.

What are the requirements for BIMI?

Three things have to be true: DMARC enforced at p=quarantine or p=reject (p=none is not enough), a logo in SVG Tiny PS format hosted over HTTPS, and — for Gmail and Apple — a VMC. Get all three in place and the record will qualify; miss any one and the logo silently never shows.

Why does my logo show in Yahoo but not Gmail?

Because Yahoo will render a logo from a valid SVG alone, while Gmail (and Apple Mail) require a Verified Mark Certificate. If you've published the record with l= but no a=, that's exactly the result you'll see. Add a VMC to the a= tag and Gmail will start showing the mark.

What logo format does BIMI require?

SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG Tiny PS) — not a standard SVG. It's a restricted profile with no scripts, no external references, and no animation, plus a title element and the correct namespace. Convert your logo with a BIMI-specific tool; a logo that isn't valid Tiny PS will be rejected by mailbox providers.

Put your logo in the inbox.BIMI, generated correctly.

BIMI is the standard that shows your brand logo next to your emails in Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo. This builds a valid default._bimi TXT record from your SVG logo and optional VMC certificate, then tells you exactly what has to be true first, so the logo actually renders instead of silently doing nothing.

Try

Your BIMI inputs

Logo URL (l=, SVG Tiny PS, HTTPS)

VMC URL (a=, PEM certificate, optional)

The logo must be SVG Tiny PS over HTTPS. The VMC is optional in the spec but required by Gmail and Apple — leave it blank to generate a logo-only record.

Your BIMI record

Host / name

default._bimi.yourdomain.com

TXT value

v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/logo.svg

Replace yourdomain.com with your real domain, then add this as a TXT record in your DNS. BIMI only renders once your DMARC is enforced.

Before you publish

No VMC
Gmail and Apple now require a Verified Mark Certificate. Logo-only reaches Yahoo, but add a= to cover the big inboxes.
Requires enforced DMARC
BIMI only fires when DMARC is at p=quarantine or p=reject (not p=none). Finish your DMARC ramp first.

Your move

The logo is the reward. Enforced DMARC is the price of admission.

This record will show your logo in Yahoo today; add a VMC to the a= tag and Gmail and Apple will render it too.

BIMI only shows up once SPF, DKIM, and an enforced DMARC are all clean — which is also exactly what keeps you in the inbox in the first place. Generate your record here, then bring me your sending setup and I'll tell you, free, what's blocking the logo and what's blocking your deliverability, in one pass.

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Plain English

BIMI turns your domain into a logo in the inbox.

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a published TXT record at default._bimi.yourdomain.com that points mailbox providers to your brand logo. When everything checks out, providers like Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo display that logo in the avatar slot next to your authenticated mail — a small thing that quietly raises recognition, trust, and open rates while making spoofs of your domain look obviously wrong.

The record itself is short: a version tag, a location (l=) for your SVG logo, and an optional authority (a=) pointing at a Verified Mark Certificate. The hard part isn't the syntax — it's the prerequisites. BIMI only ever fires for domains that already authenticate cleanly and enforce DMARC, and the logo has to be in a very specific format (SVG Tiny Portable/Secure), not the SVG your designer hands you.

And there's a moving target: Gmail and Apple now require a VMC — a paid certificate from an authority like DigiCert or Entrust that proves you legally own the mark — before they'll show the logo, even though the BIMI spec treats it as optional. So the record can be perfectly valid and still show nothing if your DMARC isn't enforced, your SVG is the wrong flavor, or you skipped the VMC. This tool builds the record and flags every one of those gaps before you publish.

The formula

default._bimi TXT = v=BIMI1; l=<svg-url>; (a=<vmc-url> when you have a certificate)

A logo-only record reads v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/logo.svg — valid, and enough for Yahoo. Add a certificate and it reads v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/bimi/vmc.pem — now Gmail and Apple will render the mark too. Same domain, two levels of reach.

Record published but no logo? Here's why.

Your DMARC is at p=none.

BIMI requires DMARC at enforcement — p=quarantine or p=reject, applied to 100% of mail. Monitor mode (p=none) is not enough. Finish your DMARC ramp first, then BIMI will start to qualify.

Your logo is a normal SVG.

BIMI only accepts SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG Tiny PS) — a stripped, secured profile with no scripts, external references, or animation. Export or convert your logo to SVG Tiny PS, or providers will reject the file outright.

Gmail and Apple show nothing, Yahoo shows the logo.

That's the VMC gap. Yahoo will display a logo from an SVG alone; Gmail and Apple now require a Verified Mark Certificate referenced in a=. Buy a VMC from a recognized CA, host the PEM, and add it to the record.

The l= or a= URL isn't HTTPS.

Both the logo and certificate must be served over HTTPS from a publicly reachable URL. An http:// link, a private host, or a 404 means no logo. Confirm both URLs load in a browser before you publish.

How to roll out BIMI so the logo actually renders

01Enforce DMARC first

BIMI never fires on p=none. Get to p=quarantine or p=reject at 100% with clean reports before you touch BIMI. If your DMARC isn't enforced, the BIMI record does nothing.

02Make a square, centered logo

BIMI logos render in a circle or square avatar. Use a 1:1 aspect ratio, a solid (non-transparent) background, and center the mark so it isn't clipped by the provider's mask.

03Convert to SVG Tiny PS

A regular SVG won't pass. Use a BIMI-specific converter or your CA's tooling to produce SVG Tiny PS — no scripts, no external links, no animation, a title element, and the right namespace.

04Host both files over HTTPS

Put the SVG (and the VMC PEM, if you have one) on a stable, public HTTPS URL you control. Avoid redirects and expiring links — providers re-fetch these and a broken URL drops the logo.

05Budget for a VMC

Gmail and Apple require a Verified Mark Certificate. It needs a registered trademark for your logo and runs into the hundreds-to-thousands per year from a CA like DigiCert or Entrust. Plan the trademark and the cert early — it's the long pole.

06Publish the TXT record

Add the generated v=BIMI1 record as a TXT entry at default._bimi.yourdomain.com. The selector default works for most senders; use a custom selector only if you run separate logos per stream.

07Validate before you celebrate

Use a BIMI inspector to confirm the record parses, the SVG is valid Tiny PS, the VMC chains correctly, and DMARC qualifies. Then send yourself a test from the domain to a Gmail and Yahoo account.

08Keep the trademark and cert alive

A VMC is tied to a live trademark and expires annually. If either lapses, the logo disappears. Track renewal dates the same way you track domain renewals.

The vocabulary

BIMI: Brand Indicators for Message Identification — a TXT record (v=BIMI1) at default._bimi.yourdomain.com that tells mailbox providers where to find your brand logo.
l= (location): The HTTPS URL of your logo file, which must be in SVG Tiny PS format. This is the only required value besides the version tag.
a= (authority): The HTTPS URL of your Verified Mark Certificate. Optional in the spec, but required in practice for Gmail and Apple Mail.
VMC: Verified Mark Certificate — a paid certificate from a CA that proves you legally own (have trademarked) the logo. Gmail and Apple require it.
SVG Tiny PS: SVG Tiny Portable/Secure — a restricted SVG profile with no scripts, external references, or animation. The only logo format BIMI accepts.
Selector: The label before _bimi (default by default). Lets you publish different logos for different mail streams; most senders only ever need default.

BIMI questions, straight answers

It's a single TXT record published in your DNS at the host default._bimi.yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your real domain). The value starts with v=BIMI1 and points to your logo with l= and, optionally, a certificate with a=. Add it like any other TXT record at your DNS provider once your DMARC is enforced.

Keep going

DMARC Record GeneratorGenerate a DMARC record and the ramp from monitor to enforce.

SPF Record GeneratorBuild a valid SPF record from your sending sources, lookup-limit safe.

Email Deliverability ScorecardGrade your sending setup on the infra that decides inbox vs spam.

Email Spam Score CheckerScore a full email on the signals filters actually weigh.

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