A BIMI record is a DNS TXT record at default._bimi.yourdomain pointing at an SVG logo and usually a Verified Mark Certificate. Supporting mailbox providers show the logo beside your messages, but only once the domain enforces DMARC at quarantine or reject — so BIMI is the last step, not the first.

How to read your result

logo (l=) — the HTTPS URL of the SVG. It must be served over HTTPS and be publicly reachable; a logo behind auth or on HTTP is treated as absent.
VMC (a=) — the URL of the Verified Mark Certificate. none here is the usual reason a valid-looking record produces no logo in Gmail.

BIMI has prerequisites, and they are strict

BIMI is the only email standard on this site that will do nothing at all until several other things are already true. In rough order:

DMARC must be at p=quarantine or p=reject. A domain on p=none cannot display a BIMI logo, full stop.
The enforcement has to apply to the domain actually in the From: header, including any subdomain you send from.
The logo must be an SVG in a specific restricted profile, not any SVG.
For Gmail, a Verified Mark Certificate from an approved authority is required.

If you are checking BIMI before DMARC is enforcing, the answer is already no, whatever this record says.

Why nothing displays even though the record is valid

Almost always one of three things: DMARC is not at enforcement, there is no VMC, or the mailbox provider does not support BIMI. Support is uneven and each provider applies its own additional conditions on top of the standard, including reputation thresholds that are not published anywhere. A syntactically perfect record is necessary and nowhere near sufficient.

The logo file is not an ordinary SVG

BIMI requires SVG Tiny Portable/Secure — a deliberately reduced profile with no scripts, no external references, no animation and a required title element. An export from a design tool will almost never comply without being converted. If the record resolves and the image still does not render, validate the file itself rather than the DNS.

Is it worth it

A Verified Mark Certificate is an annual cost in the hundreds of dollars and requires a registered trademark, which is a slower and more expensive prerequisite than most teams expect. The payoff is a logo in some inboxes and a modest trust signal.

The honest sequencing: get DMARC to reject first. That is free, it is the actual security control, and it is required for BIMI anyway. If you never get past it, you have lost nothing by not buying a certificate.

Related checks

DMARC checker — confirm enforcement, which BIMI depends on entirely.
SPF checker — one half of what DMARC evaluates.
DKIM checker — the other half.
TXT lookup — read the raw record at the BIMI name.
Full domain check — the whole authentication picture.

Check a BIMI record