What are VMC and BIMI? A guide to email verification and inbox reputation

Despite many declarations over the years from various people that "email is dead", email is well and thriving even in 2026. Almost every purchase and subscription—even a "free guide"—requires handing over that precious email address. As such, the email inbox is now noisier than ever.

With every corporation, small business, and even scammers vying for a coveted spot in the inbox, how can you give your emails a fighting chance?

Mailbox providers are now intelligent gatekeepers

Email inbox providers like Apple Mail and Gmail have moved beyond basic filtering and are acting as intelligent gatekeepers who look for multiple trust signals before placing your mail in the inbox. So giving your emails a fair chance among the hundreds of others competing for the same place means implementing domain authentication techniques like SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

Enter: BIMI and VMC.

Read more: Various domain authentication techniques and how to implement them 

What is BIMI?

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email authentication protocol that enables your brand display your logo next to your name in recipients' inboxes. Having a BIMI record in place:

• Signals to email inbox providers that you're a verified sender and increases inbox placement.

• Reduces spam reports from the recipients and prevents your emails from ending in spam traps—which in turn increases your deliverability.

• Acts as an additional signal to show your audience that the email is indeed from a reputed brand, which improves your overall sender reputation.

• Lets you reach a larger audience, as BIMI is supported by all major email inbox providers.

• Increases open and engagement rates, leading to better email marketing ROI.

What is VMC?

Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) proves that you own the logo you're displaying to your recipients. VMCs are issued by licensed certification authorities and serve to authenticate that you have the legal rights to your logo.

VMC also helps your brand display a blue verification checkmark next to your logo in inboxes, which signals to your recipients that the email is not an attempt at spoofing or phishing.

What is CMC?

Common Mark Certificate (CMC) is a cost-effective way to implement BIMI for small businesses and growing brands. It helps businesses who don't have verified trademarks nevertheless comply with BIMI and display their logos along with their emails—but without a blue checkmark.

VMC vs. CMC: Which is right for your business?

Even without a blue checkmark, having your logo displayed can still increase open rates, improve brand recall, and improve purchase likelihood via emails.

A study that compared emails across competing businesses with and without logos found that having logos increased open rates by 21% in the US and 39% in the UK—so there's proof that this actually works.

If you're a growing business looking to save on verified trademark costs and want to quickly associate your logo with email campaigns, you can choose a CMC.

If you are an established business that already has a registered trademark of your logo, you can go the extra mile and get the VMC. Remember, VMC displays a blue check next to your email in the inbox even before it gets opened. That's certain to add a layer of trust for recipients.

Next steps

To protect recipients, email inbox providers only keep tightening security measures for email senders. Failing to implement these will hinder your communications with your audience and hurt your business in the long run.

Read more: Google and Yahoo's email authentication requirements  

In the bustling inbox space, implementing domain authentication techniques really helps your emails reach inboxes, stand out, and actually stand a chance of engagement. In addition to the usual SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols, setting up BIMI and VMC acts as an additional bolster to verify your emails and create a good inbox reputation.

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