Search Atlas Help Center

✉️ Connect Email with SMTP/IMAP in Search Atlas

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Camilo Aponte

Camilo Aponte

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

✉️ 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 account menu (person icon, top-right) → Billing.