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What is BIMI? Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email authentication standard that allows your organization’s logo to appear next to authenticated emails in supported inboxes. BIMI helps your business stand out in crowded inboxes, improves deliverability, and builds trust with its recipients.
So, what is BIMI, and why does it matter for email security and branding? This guide will walk through the essentials.
BIMI functions as a visual trust signal for authenticated emails. Once a domain passes authentication checks (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC), Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)), your company’s logo can appear next to its messages in BIMI-compatible inboxes like Gmail and Yahoo Mail.
To enable BIMI, your organization needs to publish a BIMI DNS record that points to:
To obtain a VMC, your company’s logo must be officially trademarked in one of the recognized regions. For a CMC, your organization needs to have used its logo for over a year.
BIMI builds on existing email authentication protocols and adds visual validation to legitimate emails.
Note: BIMI doesn’t replace SPF, DKIM, or DMARC; it enhances them by improving brand visibility and recipient trust.
Need help setting up BIMI correctly? Book a demo with a Sendmarc expert to see how we streamline BIMI, DMARC, SPF, and DKIM implementation.
BIMI offers practical benefits for organizations:
Understanding how BIMI fits into your company’s email authentication strategy helps clarify its value and reveals that it’s not a standalone feature but a visual layer that builds on DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
| Protocol | Purpose | Key difference |
|---|---|---|
| BIMI | Displays a verified logo in inboxes | Requires full authentication via DMARC, SPF, and DKIM |
| DMARC | Aligns SPF and DKIM; sets policy for failed checks | A foundational requirement for BIMI |
| SPF | Verifies that the sending email server is authorized | Focuses on sender IP legitimacy |
| DKIM | Verifies message integrity via cryptographic signature | Confirms content hasn’t been altered |
Together, these protocols create a layered approach to email authentication that improves deliverability, protects your organization’s domain, and boosts recipient trust.
Why this comparison matters: BIMI depends on successful DMARC alignment and can’t function without properly configured SPF and DKIM records. Many businesses exploring BIMI might not know about this critical technical dependency.
Need help implementing all four protocols the right way? Book a demo with us to protect your company’s domain and promote its brand effectively.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) allows organizations to display their verified logos next to authenticated emails in supported inboxes. This improves brand visibility, strengthens trust with recipients, and helps prevent impersonation.
BIMI is especially valuable for businesses that prioritize brand reputation, email deliverability, and protection against phishing or spoofing. While not mandatory, BIMI enhances email credibility and makes legitimate messages stand out in crowded inboxes.
BIMI setup can be technically complex – it requires proper DNS configuration, specific logo formatting, and, optionally, a certificate. But Sendmarc simplifies the entire BIMI process, guiding your business through setup, publishing, and verification from start to finish.
To enable BIMI, your company’s domain must have properly aligned SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, with the DMARC policy set to either p=quarantine or p=reject. Your organization’s logo must be in the SVG Tiny 1.2 format and hosted at a secure URL. Depending on the recipients’ providers, your business might also need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or Certificate for Mark Authentication (CMC).
Once those requirements are met, your company can publish a DNS TXT record pointing to its logo and certificate. From there, testing and ongoing monitoring help ensure implementation is successful.
A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) is a digital certificate issued by a Certification Authority (CA) that confirms the ownership of a trademarked logo. VMCs are used in BIMI to verify that the displayed logo in emails belongs to the sender. Some email providers, like Apple Mail, require a VMC for BIMI logos to appear.
A Certificate for Mark Authentication (CMC) confirms the authenticity of a brand’s logo. CMCs are typically accepted in cases where a logo isn’t formally trademarked – but proof of brand ownership exists. Like VMCs, CMCs support logo validation for BIMI implementation.
No, BIMI can’t function without proper email authentication. To enable BIMI, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC must all be implemented. Also, the domain’s DMARC policy must be set to p=quarantine or p=reject. Without these protocols in place, BIMI won’t display logos in inboxes.
Book a demo with Sendmarc to get expert support in configuring SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI.