How to Set Up BIMI: From p=reject to Your Logo in Gmail
To set up BIMI, publish a TinySVG logo at a public HTTPS URL, then add a default._bimi.yourdomain.com TXT record pointing to it. That gets your logo into Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, and Fastmail. Gmail requires an additional Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), which costs around $1,500/year and requires trademark verification. This guide assumes your DMARC policy is at p=quarantine or p=reject and your senders are aligned. For a primer on what BIMI is and which clients support it, see what is BIMI.
If you're not there yet, start with the DMARC setup guide for indie developers and come back once your alignment percentage has been above 99% for a month.
Step 1: Confirm your prerequisites
BIMI requires:
- DMARC at
p=quarantineorp=reject:p=noneis not enough. Check your current policy with the DMARC checker. - SPF and DKIM aligned on your primary sending domain: at least DKIM alignment is recommended since SPF alignment breaks on forwarded mail.
- No alignment failures on senders you use regularly: if you have legitimate senders failing, BIMI won't help and fixing those comes first.
Do not skip this step. If your DMARC alignment isn't solid, a BIMI record won't show your logo anywhere. If you move to p=reject just to enable BIMI without knowing your senders are covered, you'll break legitimate mail delivery.
Step 2: Prepare your SVG logo
BIMI requires SVG, specifically the TinySVG 1.2 profile. Not every SVG works.
Requirements:
- Format: SVG Tiny 1.2 (
<svg ... version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny">) - Shape: square with a white or transparent background
- Hosted at: a public HTTPS URL you control
- No external references, no scripts, no animations
Most design tools export "regular" SVG, not TinySVG. You'll likely need to either hand-edit the SVG to add the correct profile declaration and remove unsupported elements, or use a tool that exports compliant TinySVG specifically.
The SVG can live anywhere you host static files: your CDN, S3, or your domain's public folder. A common convention is hosting it at https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/bimi-logo.svg, though this isn't required.
Step 3: Create the BIMI DNS record
The BIMI record goes at default._bimi.yourdomain.com as a TXT record.
Minimal record:
v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/bimi-logo.svg;
With a VMC (see Step 4):
v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/bimi-logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/bimi-vmc.pem;
The l= tag points to your SVG. The a= tag points to your VMC certificate (a .pem file you get from your Certificate Authority). If you don't have a VMC yet, omit the a= tag entirely.
Step 4: Decide on a VMC for Gmail
This is the fork in the BIMI setup path.
Without a VMC: Your logo will appear in Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, Fastmail, and other supporting clients. Gmail will not show it. This is the free path and it's worth doing.
With a VMC: Your logo appears in Gmail as well. A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) currently costs around $1,500 per year from DigiCert or Entrust. The CA verifies that you own the trademark associated with the logo before issuing it.
The decision: If your audience is primarily Gmail users and you send at meaningful volume, the VMC is worth evaluating. If most of your audience uses Apple Mail, Outlook, or Yahoo, or if your send volume is low, the free path covers a significant portion of email clients and costs you only time.
Either way, set up the record without a VMC first to verify everything is working.
Step 5: Verify with the BIMI checker
Once your DNS record is live (allow up to 48 hours for propagation), run your domain through the BIMI checker. It will confirm:
- Your BIMI record is published and syntactically valid
- Your SVG is reachable at the
l=URL - Your DMARC prerequisites are met
- Whether Gmail (VMC), Yahoo, and Apple Mail will show your logo
If the checker shows the logo isn't reachable, verify the URL is publicly accessible over HTTPS. If it shows the SVG format is invalid, check that your SVG has the correct TinySVG profile declaration.
FAQ
The DNS record and SVG hosting cost nothing. The optional Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for Gmail logo display costs around $1,500 per year from Certificate Authorities like DigiCert or Entrust. Without a VMC, BIMI is free and still gets you logo display in Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, Fastmail, and other supporting clients.
Only if you want your logo to appear in Gmail. Yahoo Mail and other major clients support BIMI without a VMC. The VMC is Gmail-specific and requires trademark verification with a Certificate Authority. Most indie developers and small teams implement BIMI without a VMC first, then evaluate the Gmail VMC based on their audience.
You need p=quarantine at minimum. p=none is not sufficient for any client. Many guides recommend p=reject specifically, and Gmail requires it for VMC-based BIMI. p=quarantine is technically sufficient for the non-VMC path, but if you're at the point of setting up BIMI, moving to p=reject is the natural next step and gives you the strongest foundation.