# BIMI

> BIMI puts your verified logo next to your messages in supporting inboxes. It requires DMARC at enforcement and, for most providers, a paid VMC certificate.

Canonical: https://emailfast.dev/glossary/bimi

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a standard for displaying a brand's verified logo beside its messages in supporting inboxes such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Apple Mail. It is less a feature than a reward: providers show the logo only for senders who have completed strict email authentication.

## Why it matters

The visible payoff is recognition, and a harder target for phishers: a spoofed message carries no logo, and a reader who is used to seeing one has a reason to hesitate. The structural payoff is that BIMI forces [DMARC](/glossary/dmarc) to enforcement. A `p=none` policy does not qualify, so pursuing the logo drags a domain's authentication to where it should have been anyway. Mailbox providers designed the incentive deliberately.

## In practice

Three requirements. First, DMARC at `p=quarantine` or `p=reject`. Second, the logo as SVG Tiny PS, a deliberately restricted SVG profile that strips scripts and external references. Third, for Gmail and Apple Mail, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC): a certificate from an approved CA attesting that you own the logo, which generally requires a registered trademark and a yearly fee. Then one DNS record ties it together:

```text
default._bimi.example.com  TXT  "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/vmc.pem"
```

The `l=` tag points to the logo, `a=` to the certificate. Yahoo displays logos with a VMC; Gmail and Apple require one.

## How Email Fast handles it

Email Fast has the BIMI provisioning path built in: record generation, SVG Tiny PS validation, and hosting for the logo and certificate files. It arms once you hold a purchased VMC, because the certificate is the one piece only a CA can sell you. The prerequisite work, [DMARC at enforcement](/glossary/dmarc), is part of standard domain setup.