Definition
BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification): A specification that lets a brand logo appear next to authenticated mail in supporting inboxes. The domain publishes a TXT record at default._bimi.<domain> pointing to an SVG logo, needs an enforced DMARC policy of quarantine or reject. Some providers, including Gmail, also require a mark certificate (VMC or CMC).
What you need before publishing BIMI
First, DMARC at enforcement: p=quarantine or p=reject on the From domain, with your mail passing it. A p=none policy is not enough, however clean your reports look.
Second, the logo as an SVG in the SVG Tiny Portable/Secure profile, served over HTTPS. Third, for Gmail and some other inboxes, a mark certificate: a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), which requires a registered trademark, or a Common Mark Certificate (CMC), which does not.
How a BIMI record works
The record lives at default._bimi on your domain. The l= tag points to the SVG logo and the a= tag points to the certificate file in PEM format.
When a message passes DMARC, the receiving inbox looks up the record, fetches the logo, validates the certificate if it needs one, and shows the logo in the inbox list and the message view.
Does BIMI improve deliverability?
BIMI is a display feature, not a filter bypass. A logo will not move a message from spam to the inbox.
The real gain is what BIMI makes you do first. Reaching DMARC enforcement blocks spoofing of your domain, and a recognizable logo helps recipients trust the mail that does arrive.
default._bimi.example.com. IN TXT "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/brand/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/brand/vmc.pem"How RocketVerifier handles it
Our free BIMI generator builds the TXT record and checks that your domain is ready to show a logo, and the DMARC checker confirms your policy is at quarantine or reject before you publish. Monitors recheck SPF, DKIM, DMARC and blocklist status on a schedule and alert you when something changes, so a DMARC edit that would switch your logo off does not go unnoticed.