Here's your deliverability guide
A cheat sheet, two diagrams and the order to fix things in, all from the tests I ran on seed inboxes. All of it comes from our own lists, so test your own copy before you roll a change out.
GoHighLevel inbox cheat sheet
What got our GoHighLevel email into the Gmail and Microsoft inbox, and the traps that kept it out. Almost every line comes from a seed test on real emails.
Do this to hit the inbox
- 1
Send GoHighLevel through Amazon SES.
Microsoft252 of 253 emails reached the Microsoft inbox. The same domain on another email platform went to junk on 15 of 15 seeds. GoHighLevel's own sending was not tested against it. - 2End a Primary email with a P.S. that asks for a reply.
GmailTwo emails stayed in Primary on 11 of 11 seeds with it. It did not pull stuck emails out of Promotions. - 3Test your original subject line before you rewrite it.Gmail11 of 17 original subjects tied or beat the "deliverability" rewrite. One went from Promotions to Primary.
- 4If every Microsoft seed misses the email at once, send it from a different address on the same domain.MicrosoftSent under the brand name from hello@, it reached Microsoft on 1 of 12 tests. Staff addresses on the same domain reached it on 8 of 8.
- 5Add a long "why you get this, reply to us" block under emails stuck in Promotions.GmailA 719-word block moved 5 of 8 stuck emails to Updates on all 11 seeds. A 126-word version moved only one of the five.
- 6Test every change on seed inboxes before it ships.GmailMicrosoftSend the live email in the same round, plus a code you never send. Ship a fix only after it passes twice.
- 7Let real sales emails live in Promotions.GmailPromotions is still the inbox. 50 of our 71 live sales and follow-up emails sit there.
Traps to avoid
- 1A P.S. that teases the next email.GmailPushed two Primary emails into Promotions, on 10 and 11 of 11 seeds.
- 2A subject line that lists your offers.Gmail"The other things my team does" took a Primary email to Promotions on all 11 seeds.
- 3Hidden text on a list with Outlook readers.MicrosoftA welcome email with hidden text went to spam on 4 of 4 Microsoft seeds. Without it, inbox on 4 of 4. Later hidden blocks over Amazon SES mostly passed, so test it per email.
- 4Hidden text next to payment lines like "pay in full" or "refund".MicrosoftOne cart email reached Microsoft on 12 of 36 seeds. With either one removed, 27 of 27.
- 5Hunting for spam trigger words.GmailSwapping out free, guarantee, discount and deals moved none of 5 stuck emails.
- 6Stripping out links and prices to sound less salesy.GmailAll 8 stuck emails stayed in Promotions, even with zero links.
- 7Adding images or links to fix Microsoft.GmailMicrosoftMicrosoft did not move. Gmail slid from Updates into Promotions.
- 8No one-click unsubscribe on GoHighLevel custom SMTP.GmailGoHighLevel adds no List-Unsubscribe header on custom SMTP. Gmail requires one-click unsubscribe above 5,000 emails a day, and a link in the body does not count.
Mostly measured on Lead Gen Jay's own GoHighLevel lists with cold Gmail and Microsoft seed inboxes, August to October 2026. The From address result comes from a sister company's email. Treat each line as a strong lead to test on your own list.
Links, footers and hidden text
The small things we do on every email. Lines marked as house rules are how we work, not seed test results.
Links and formatting
- 1Point links at your plain domain, not the www. version.GmailAt Consulti, our software company, five emails linking to the www. address sat in Updates or Promotions. With only the links changed, all five reached Primary on 11 of 11 seeds.
- 2Write a visible link as yourdomain.com/page, without https:// or www.GmailMicrosoftThe link behind it keeps https, so it still works. Our house rule, not a seed test.
- 3Use one or two plain text links. No buttons, no image links.GmailOn one cart email, a hero image moved Gmail from Updates to Promotions on 2 of 11 seeds, and four links did it on 10. The two-link cap and no buttons are our house rule, not a seed test.
- 4Put your own footer on every email, with your address and an unsubscribe link.GmailMicrosoftGoHighLevel on Amazon SES adds no footer for you. We word that link "Click here", never "unsubscribe". Our house rule, not a seed test.
- 5Before it sends, click every link and check every merge tag.GmailMicrosoftA fallback typed inside a GoHighLevel merge tag prints exactly as typed, so use the bare tag. Our house rule, not a seed test.
Hidden text (Ghost Ink): use it or skip it
Ghost Ink is a block of ordinary writing hidden in the email's code. Readers don't see it in the email itself. Filters read it.
Use it
- 1On a one-off campaign stuck in Promotions, once Microsoft passes in the same test.GmailMicrosoftOne campaign stayed in Promotions on 11 of 11 in plain text, under a second subject and with a bare-domain link. With hidden text it read Updates on 11 of 11, and Microsoft 9 of 9.
- 2Put it last, under the footer.GmailPlaced near the top, it became the preview line Gmail shows under the subject.
- 3Write a fresh, honest passage for each email, with no pitch, link or product.GmailOur house rule, not a seed test.
Skip it
- 1On automated workflow emails, unless only contacts tagged as Gmail get it.MicrosoftAt Consulti, 11 of 20 workflow emails with hidden text reached 4 or fewer of 9 Microsoft seeds. Without it, all 20 reached 7 or more. Tag each contact by its email provider at signup.
- 2On receipts, password resets and other transactional email.GmailMicrosoftOur house rule, not a seed test.
- 3On any platform that builds the plain-text version from your HTML.GmailMicrosoftThere the hidden passage shows up as visible text. Our house rule, not a seed test.
- 4When you need Primary. Expect Updates at best.GmailIn the Consulti tests, no email with hidden text reached Primary. The one email of ours that did went to spam at Microsoft.
Plus the two hidden-text traps in the cheat sheet above.
Two pictures to keep open
Where did my email land?
The fix-it flowchart. Microsoft missing, Microsoft junk, Gmail spam and Gmail Promotions each go to a fix and a test.
Google and Microsoft at a glance
What each provider does with a message, what moves it, and what leaves it alone.
Fix it in order
When an email lands wrong, work down this list and stop at the first match.
Every Microsoft seed inbox shows the email missing at once
Test the From address first. Send the same email from a second address on the same domain.
Microsoft junk or missing across most of your mail
Find out what platform sent it, and by which path, before you touch any copy.
One email fails at Microsoft and the rest pass
Send it without the hidden block, then without the payment lines.
Gmail spam
Check authentication and the sender address before the copy. General practice, not one of our tests.
Gmail Promotions
Look at the P.S., then a subject that announces offers, then the footer block, then your links and images.
Still in Promotions on a real sales email
Accept it. Promotions is still the inbox.
Every change, every time: test with a never-sent control and your live copy in the same round, and record the Gmail tab even in a Microsoft test. Check every email step in a workflow, not one per template, and test a subject on every body it ships with.
Get the full skill inside AI Insiders
The Inbox Placement skill has the seed test script and all 24 rules, with the test counts behind the measured ones and the house rules marked, so Claude can work down this list on your own email.
Want my team to fix it for you?
If you would rather not do this yourself, book a call. We set up Amazon SES inside your GoHighLevel and fix or write your nurture, sales, booking and abandoned cart sequences.
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