What Is BIMI? Getting Your Brand Logo in the Inbox

Ever noticed some companies' emails show their logo next to the sender name in the inbox? That is BIMI at work - a standard that turns your authenticated email into a branded, more trustworthy experience. Here is what it is and how to get it.

What is BIMI?

BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification. It lets you display your verified brand logo beside your messages in supporting inboxes (like Gmail and others). The logo only shows if your email is properly authenticated - so it doubles as a visible trust signal.

Why it matters

• Trust and recognition - your logo stands out and reassures recipients the mail is genuinely from you
• Higher engagement - branded messages tend to get opened more
• Anti-spoofing signal - because BIMI requires strong authentication, it reinforces that lookalike/spoofed mail is not from you

The prerequisite: get authentication right first

BIMI is not a shortcut - it sits on top of solid email authentication. Before BIMI can work, you need:

1. SPF and DKIM correctly set up
2. DMARC at an enforcement policy (quarantine or reject, not just none)

If those are not in place, BIMI simply will not display. We cover the foundation in SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained and moving DMARC to enforcement in what is email spoofing and how to prevent it.

What you need to set up BIMI

1. DMARC enforcement on your domain (the gatekeeper)
2. A square logo in SVG format, meeting the BIMI profile requirements
3. A BIMI DNS record pointing to that logo
4. For some inboxes, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) - a paid certificate proving you own the trademark - to display the logo in Gmail and others

Is BIMI worth it?

For brands that send a lot of customer email - newsletters, receipts, notifications - BIMI is a strong trust and recognition boost. For smaller senders, the essential wins come first: get SPF, DKIM and DMARC right, and reach enforcement. BIMI is the polish on top of a solid foundation.

Start with the foundation

Whether or not you pursue BIMI, the authentication it requires benefits every business - better deliverability and protection from spoofing. DigiCloudMail helps you get SPF, DKIM and DMARC configured correctly and to enforcement, so you are BIMI-ready when you want it.

Want your domain authenticated and BIMI-ready? Get in touch.