A drop in your Deliverability Score almost always traces back to one specific cause. The Deliverability Center surfaces it directly — no detective work needed.
First step: Open the Center and look at which of the three pillars changed. The pillar that dropped is where the problem lives.
Common causes of a score drop
- Authentication broke. A DNS record was edited, a DKIM key expired, or a new sending source isn't yet authorized in SPF. Check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC records first — this is the most common cause.
- A blacklist hit. Your sending domain or IP showed up on a public blacklist. The Center tells you which one and links to the de-listing process.
- A bad campaign. One specific send had a high bounce rate or generated spam complaints — pulling your overall reputation down. Look at the Campaign Score view for the culprit.
- List hygiene problems. Old, abandoned addresses started bouncing, dragging your bounce rate up. Time to clean the list.
How fast you can recover
Authentication fixes show up within hours once DNS propagates. Blacklist removals can take 24 to 72 hours. List hygiene improvements take a few sends to show in the score — mailbox providers want to see sustained good behavior, not a single clean send.
Don't panic, don't pause sending
Once you've identified and fixed the issue, keep sending to your engaged audience. Going dark makes reputation harder to rebuild — mailbox providers want to see clean, consistent sending behavior over time.
Visit the Intelligent Deliverability Center to see your score and start improving your email deliverability today.