Setting up BIMI at dogado — Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Last updated: July 2026

In short: BIMI displays your verified corporate logo right next to your emails inside recipient inboxes. You enable this visual trust indicator by publishing the public URL of your SVG logo file as a TXT record on the default._bimi subdomain inside dogado DNS management.

Prerequisites

An active dogado web hosting or email hosting plan
Access to your DNS management table (in either CloudPit or oneHome)
An active, strict DMARC policy (p=quarantine or p=reject) configured on your domain (DMARC at dogado)
A brand logo exported specifically in the SVG Tiny PS format, publicly accessible over HTTPS

What is BIMI?

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) attaches visual brand verification to strong email security practices. Supporting mail providers (such as Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo) check whether incoming messages originate from a domain publishing a valid BIMI record — and display the verified logo right next to the subject line in the inbox.

Beyond branding, BIMI provides visual protection against spoofing. Mail clients only render the logo if two strict authentication hurdles are cleared:

Your domain passes strict SPF alignment and carries valid DKIM signatures.
Your domain enforces a strict DMARC policy (p=quarantine or p=reject). If DMARC remains in monitoring mode (p=none), the logo is ignored.

As dogado confirms regarding DNS record management: Ein TXT-Eintrag speichert Textinformationen, häufig zur Domain-Verifizierung (z. B. Google, Microsoft) oder für Sicherheitsrichtlinien wie SPF, DKIM und DMARC (“A TXT record stores text information, frequently for domain verification (e.g. Google, Microsoft) or for security policies such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC”). This flexible TXT structure accommodates BIMI effortlessly.

The starting point at dogado

You configure your BIMI record inside your domain’s DNS management table in the customer portal. Ensure that the record is created specifically on the default._bimi reserved subdomain.

The canonical structure of the BIMI record is:

v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg

Step-by-step guide

1. Verify your DMARC enforcement level

Before publishing your BIMI record, check via terminal or MXAudit that your DMARC policy is set to p=quarantine or p=reject. If your DMARC record reads p=none, email clients will refuse to display your logo.

2. Host your logo in SVG Tiny PS format

Your logo file must adhere strictly to the SVG Tiny PS profile (square aspect ratio, pure vector paths, no external links, scripts, or bitmap references). Upload this file to your dogado web hosting space so that it is publicly reachable via a secure HTTPS URL (for example, https://example.com/logo.svg).

3. Open DNS management inside CloudPit or oneHome

4. Add the TXT record for default._bimi

Inside your DNS table, add a new entry using the creation button: Mit dem Button + Record erstellen(7) haben Sie die Möglichkeit, einen neuen DNS-Eintrag hinzuzufügen (“With the + Create record button you have the ability to add a new DNS record”).

Enter the following configuration:

Name / Hostname: default._bimi (enter only the subdomain, because the system appends the main domain automatically: der Name der Hauptdomain nicht in das Feld Name eingetragen werden sollte. Dieser wird automatisch hinzugefügt (“the name of the main domain should not be entered into the Name field. It is added automatically”)).
Type: TXT
Value / Text:
```
v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg
```

(Replace https://example.com/logo.svg with the actual public HTTPS link where your vector logo file is stored).

TTL: Keep the default setting

To save your new BIMI record to the DNS zone, you must confirm by saving: klicken Sie bitte abschließend auf Speichern (8), um diese zu bestätigen und wirksam zu machen (“finally please click on Save to confirm and make them effective”).

The components of the BIMI record

Component	Meaning
`default._bimi`	The default selector (`default`) inside the BIMI technical namespace in your domain’s DNS
`v=BIMI1`	Protocol version tag (must strictly appear at the very beginning of the TXT string)
`l=https://...`	Absolute HTTPS URL pointing to the publicly hosted SVG Tiny PS vector file

Verification

Once you save your record inside dogado’s portal, immediately test your setup using the free MXAudit scanner — check your BIMI syntax and verify that your logo file passes SVG validation.

You can also use your terminal to confirm that dogado’s name servers serve your new record:

dig TXT default._bimi.example.com +short

The output should match "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg".

Common mistakes

Placing the record on root (@) instead of default._bimi. If you leave the name field blank, the record is placed on the root domain (der Name der Hauptdomain nicht in das Feld Name eingetragen werden sollte. Dieser wird automatisch hinzugefügt.). External mail servers will not find your logo there. Always enter default._bimi into the name field.

Leaving DMARC in p=none. This is the most common reason why logos fail to appear in Gmail or Apple Mail. BIMI strictly requires DMARC enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject).

Uploading incompatible image formats. Standard PNG, JPG, or unoptimized SVG files are rejected silently by receiving mail clients. Your graphic must be exported specifically using the SVG Tiny PS profile.