Does BIMI specify the location of the SVG file?

Yes, the BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) standard absolutely specifies the location of your SVG logo file. It's a fundamental part of how BIMI works. You tell mailbox providers where to find your logo by including its URL directly within your BIMI record, which is a specific type of TXT record in your domain's DNS settings.

This DNS record acts as a public claim, telling services like Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo where to fetch your logo when they receive an authenticated email from your domain. Without a valid and accessible location, the entire process fails, and your logo won't be displayed.

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Your BIMI record is a single line of text published in your DNS. The part of the record that specifies the location of your logo file is the location tag, written as l=. This tag must be followed by the full, secure URL of your SVG file.

BIMI Group says:

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A BIMI record has three attributes: v = bimi1 – the record declaration indicating that this is a BIMI record; l = URL – the hosting location of the SVG image.

A complete, simple BIMI record looks something like this:

v=BIMI1; l=https://your.domain.com/images/logo.svg;

In this example, v=BIMI1 declares the version of the BIMI standard being used. The l=tag is the crucial part that points directly to the secure URL where your logo is hosted. If you also have a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), your record will have an additional `a=` tag pointing to your certificate, but the `l=` tag for the logo location is always required.

You cannot just point the `l=` tag to a file on your local computer or a private server. The SVG file must be placed in a location that meets two key criteria:

• Publicly Accessible: The logo must be hosted on a public web server. This means anyone, including the email services checking your record, can access the URL and download the file without needing to log in or pass any authentication checks.
• Served over HTTPS: The URL must start with `https://`. This is a strict requirement. Using an unencrypted HTTP link will cause BIMI validation to fail. The connection must be secure.

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Once your logo is correctly formatted as a SVG P/S, you will need to upload the file to a public, web-accessible directory (more than likely, your website’s server) and retrieve the public URL.

While the location is critical, so is the format of the logo file itself. You can't use a standard PNG, JPEG, or even just any SVG file. BIMI requires a specific, restricted version of SVG to ensure security and compatibility across different email clients.

BIMI Group says:

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The brand image to be displayed must be in Scaled Vector Graphics (SVG) format. The specific SVG profile used by BIMI is defined as SVG Portable/Secure (SVG P/S) which is a subset of the SVG Tiny 1.2 profile.

The required format is SVG Portable/Secure (SVG P/S), which is a strict subset of the SVG Tiny 1.2 profile. This means the file must not contain certain elements that could be a security risk, such as:

• Scripts (like Javascript).
• External links or references (except to specified XML namespaces).
• Animations.
• Embedded bitmap images (like a PNG inside the SVG).

Getting the file location and format right is essential. If either part is wrong, your logo simply won't appear, even if your DMARC and other records are perfectly configured. The `l=` tag in your BIMI record is your direct instruction to mailbox providers, so make sure it points to a valid, secure, and correctly formatted SVG file.