Prepare to set up Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) by following the steps in this article.
BIMI is an emerging email standard; it’s still undergoing updates and changes. We’ve tried to make setting up BIMI as easy as possible, but some steps are technical. If you're not an experienced IT or email administrator, consider using a third-party service to set up BIMI for your organization.
Get your domain provider sign-in information
You turn on BIMI at your domain provider, not in your Google admin console, so you’ll need the sign-in information for your domain provider. If you need help with identifying your domain provider, go to Identify your domain host.
Register your brand logo as a trademark
BIMI uses Verified Mark Certificates (VMC) to verify brand logo ownership. Today, the BIMI standard requires your logo to be a registered trademark to get a VMC. However, the standard is being expanded to include logos that aren’t trademarked.
Note: To display BIMI logos in the Gmail inbox, Gmail requires that email senders have a VMC.
Because the trademark process can be lengthy, we recommend you start as soon as possible. Read details in Register your brand logo as a trademark.
Understand DNS TXT records
Set up BIMI for your domain by adding a DNS text (TXT) record in your domain provider's management console. TXT records are a type of DNS record that has information about your domain for servers and other sources outside your domain. Learn more About TXT records.
Set up DMARC for BIMI
BIMI requires messages to be authenticated by DMARC. For detailed information about setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for your domain, go to Prevent spam, spoofing & phishing with Gmail authentication.
Required DMARC policy settings for BIMI
- The policy option (p) must be set to either quarantine or reject. BIMI doesn’t support DMARC policies that have the p option set to none.
- The percent option (pct) must be set to 100. This value applies the DMARC policy to all outgoing mail (100 percent) from your domain. Get detailed information about creating your DMARC policy.
Check for an existing BIMI record (optional)
To check if your domain already uses BIMI, enter your domain in the BIMI Inspector tool. The tool checks for your domain’s BIMI record and BIMI image Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file. You get a report with the results of these checks.
Next steps
After you’ve prepared to set up, you’re ready to create and upload your brand logo file.
