Is Gmail Blocking Your Brand’s Emails? Here’s How to Check

If you send emails for your business — newsletters, promos, client updates — there’s a good chance more than half of them never actually reach the inbox.

As of 2026, Gmail and Yahoo have stopped sending unauthenticated bulk email to spam. They reject it outright. Never sent, never seen.

Compliant senders are landing roughly 89% of their emails in the inbox right now. Non-compliant senders are averaging just 22–34%.

The fix is three settings — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — that prove to Gmail and Yahoo your emails are really coming from you, and not someone spoofing your domain. You don’t need to understand what those three letters stand for. You just need to know whether they’re switched on. Here’s exactly where to look, platform by platform.

One thing to know before you start: these settings live in two places. Your email platform generates the records, but you (or whoever manages your website) need to add them at your domain host — GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, wherever your domain lives. If you don’t manage your own domain, send this post to whoever does.

How to Check in Mailchimp

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom left, then select Profile.
2. Go to the Domains tab.
3. If your domain isn’t listed yet, click Add and Verify Domain.
4. Next to your domain, click Authenticate, then View settings.
5. Mailchimp will display 2 CNAME records (for DKIM) and 1 TXT record (for DMARC). Copy these exactly.
6. Add those records at your domain host, then return to Mailchimp to confirm verification.

How to Check in Klaviyo

1. Click your account name in the bottom left, then select Settings.
2. Go to the Email tab, then select Domains.
3. If you’re sending on Klaviyo’s shared domain, SPF and DKIM are already handled for you — nothing to do here.
4. If you use your own branded sending domain, Klaviyo will show you CNAME/NS records to add at your DNS host — adding these enables DKIM and SPF automatically.
5. DMARC is set up separately, directly with your DNS provider (not inside Klaviyo) — you’ll add a TXT record at “_dmarc” for your domain.
6. Records can take up to 24 hours to fully verify.

How to Check in Omnisend

1. Click your account name, then go to Store Settings.
2. In the left panel, scroll to Sender Domains (or go to Store Settings → Domains).
3. Click Add Sender Domain and enter your domain.
4. Omnisend will display your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records on screen.
5. Add those records at your domain host.
6. Back in Omnisend, click Check verification manually, then click Verify under the DMARC record.
7. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate — check back if it’s not verified right away.

If You Get Stuck

If any of these show a warning or say “not verified,” that’s the exact thing quietly capping your open rates. Most platforms have live chat support that can walk you through the DNS step if your domain host isn’t obvious.

And if you’re one of my clients — just send me a screenshot of what you’re seeing, and I’ll tell you exactly what to do next.