Last updated: July 2026

In short: BIMI shows your brand logo next to your emails in the inbox. After this guide you publish the default._bimi TXT record at Strato — and know the real prerequisites: DMARC, SVG logo, certificate.

Prerequisites

  • A domain at Strato with access to DNS → TXT and CNAME records
  • DMARC at enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject)
  • Logo as SVG Tiny PS and (for Gmail & co.) a VMC

What is BIMI?

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a TXT record that points to your brand logo. Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo then show it next to your authenticated emails. BIMI is not a security method of its own, but the visible reward for clean SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — and thus the last step.

The real work isn’t in the record

The TXT record is the same at every provider and quickly set. The effort is the prerequisites, which the BIMI Group names clearly:

  1. DMARC at enforcement. Your policy must “be at enforcement on the organizational domain and subdomains” — a p=none or a pct under 100 “policies or ‘pct’ less than 100 percent are not accepted”. If your Strato DMARC is still on none, first work through the DMARC guide for Strato.
  2. SVG logo. “Produce an SVG Tiny PS version of your official logo” — square, reachable over HTTPS.
  3. VMC or CMC. Per the BIMI Group “highly recommended, but Optional”; in practice Gmail & co. require a certificate for display. Self-asserted BIMI “records have limited support across the various Mailbox Providers”.

Step-by-step guide

1. Check the prerequisites

With the free MXAudit scanner you check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — DMARC must be at quarantine/reject.

2. Provide the logo and (optionally) certificate

Place the logo as SVG Tiny PS over HTTPS (e.g. on your Strato webspace), obtain a VMC/CMC from a Mark Verifying Authority, and also serve the .pem file over HTTPS.

3. Create the BIMI TXT record at Strato

As with the DKIM entry, open the Domain management → gear → DNS → TXT and CNAME records and create:

  • Prefix/Hostname: default._bimi
  • Type: TXT
  • Value: v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/vmc.pem

Basic scheme per the BIMI Group: default._bimi.[domain] IN TXT "v=BIMI1; l=[SVG URL]; a=[PEM URL]". Without a certificate you leave out a= — it’s “currently optional”. This is what a real record (ebay.com) looks like:

v=BIMI1;l=https://vmc.digicert.com/….svg;a=https://vmc.digicert.com/….pem

4. Wait and check

After DNS propagation, check the record with the MXAudit scanner or the BIMI Inspector of the BIMI Group.

Common mistakes

BIMI without DMARC enforcement. Record set, but DMARC on p=none — no logo. quarantine/reject is mandatory.

Wrong SVG format. Only SVG Tiny PS, square. Normal SVGs are rejected.

No VMC, expecting Gmail display. Without a certificate the logo usually stays invisible at the large providers.

Logo not over HTTPS. l= and a= must point to files publicly reachable over HTTPS.

Further reading