✉️ Connect Email with SMTP/IMAP in Search Atlas

To send outreach emails through Search Atlas, you must connect your Gmail account using SMTP/IMAP with an App Password.

🚨 Important

Regular Gmail passwords will NOT work. Search Atlas requires a Google App Password. Using your regular password will always fail!

✅ Confirmed Fix (resolves 90%+ of cases)

1. Enable 2-Factor Authentication on your Google account.
2. Create an App-Specific Password and use it in Search Atlas (not your normal Gmail password).

This is a setup requirement, not a bug.

🔐 Step 1 — Enable 2-Step Verification

1. Go to: https://myaccount.google.com
2. Click Security
3. Enable 2-Step Verification

🔑 Step 2 — Create an App Password

1. Go to: https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
2. Select: App: Mail
3. Device: Other → "Search Atlas"
4. Click Generate
5. Copy the password ⚠️ This is NOT your Gmail password.

⚙️ Step 3 — Enable IMAP

1. Open Gmail
2. Go to Settings → See all settings
3. Go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP
4. Enable IMAP

🔗 Step 4 — Connect in Search Atlas

1. Go to: Authority Building → Campaigns
2. Click: Manage Connected Emails → + Add New Email
3. Select: Configure SMTP/IMAP
4. Enter: Email → your Gmail / Password → App Password
5. Click Connect

📌 Where is this used?

Connecting your email enables outreach campaigns inside the Digital PR tool.

👉 See how it works in context: 🔗 Digital PR Tool — Overview & Functionality

❌ Common Errors

• "Authentication failed" 👉 You used your normal Gmail password. ✔ Use App Password instead.
• "Connection error" 👉 IMAP not enabled. ✔ Enable IMAP in Gmail settings.
• "Still not working" 👉 Most commonly 2FA is not enabled, OR you generated the App Password before enabling 2FA. ✔ Enable 2-Step Verification FIRST, then generate a fresh App Password.

🚨 Most users get stuck here

If your email is not connecting, 90% of the time it's because:

→ You're using your Gmail password instead of an App Password.

Make sure you generate and use an App Password from Google.

Once connected, you can:

• Send outreach emails
• Receive replies inside Search Atlas
• Manage conversations in the Inbox

🔗 Related Known Issues

Users connecting Gmail for outreach frequently encounter these adjacent issues. If any apply, please open a separate ticket referencing the IDs below so we can track them properly:

• Report Builder — Competitors not showing: Confirmed bug, currently being worked on by engineering (internal ticket GitLab #16861). Support can provide status updates on request.
• OTTO SEO schema causing Google errors: Known issue under investigation by the technical team. Please share the affected URL and a screenshot of the Google error with support so it can be attached to the open ticket.
• Billing quota reset date: Your billing cycle and quota reset on your own subscription billing day each month (the day your plan renews, clamped to the last day in shorter months) — confirm your specific date in the Avatar Menu (👤) (Avatar Menu (👤), top-right) → Billing.