Why are my business emails going to spam?

1. Missing or broken email authentication

Check that your domain has a single valid SPF record, DKIM signing turned on and a DMARC record. See SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained. This is the most common and the easiest to fix.

2. A new sender you forgot to authorise

Newsletter tools, invoicing software, CRM systems and website forms often send as your domain. If they are not in your SPF record and signing with DKIM, their mail can fail checks.

3. Your mail server’s address is on a blacklist

If the server sending your email has a poor reputation, for example after a hacked mailbox, many receivers will filter it. Look up the sending IP on the blacklist providers’ lookup pages and, if listed, fix the cause before requesting removal.

4. Missing reverse DNS

Receivers often distrust mail from addresses without a matching reverse DNS (PTR) name. Your mail provider or hosting company sets this.

5. Content and sending behaviour

• Very short messages that are mostly links or images.
• Sudden large volumes from a previously quiet address.
• Purchased or old lists and no easy unsubscribe.
• Mismatched “From” and reply addresses.

6. Recipients’ own filters

Some spam folders are down to the receiving company’s settings. Ask the recipient to mark a message as not spam and add you to their contacts.

How to test

Send a message to an address at a different provider and look at the full message headers for SPF, DKIM and DMARC results. Pingee checks your records and blacklist status daily on the Plus and Business plans. Clean DNS records and no blacklist listing do not guarantee inbox delivery. See email health checks.

Written by the Pingee team. Last reviewed 12 October 2026.