SES Domain & DKIM Verification Failing for gigasamples.com (us-east-1) Despite Correct Public DNS Records

I understand your frustration with the persistent domain verification issue in Amazon SES for gigasamples.com. Based on the information you've provided, here are some insights and potential solutions:

First, it's important to note that AWS cannot manually verify domains or DKIM for security reasons - this is an automated process to ensure proper configuration.

While you've confirmed that your CNAME records are correctly set up and publicly resolvable through DNS lookup tools, there are several additional factors that could be causing the verification failure:

1. DNS Propagation Time: Although you've been trying for several weeks, in some cases DNS changes can take up to 72 hours to become fully visible to Amazon SES. This is less likely given the time frame, but worth mentioning.

2. Record Format Issues: Some DNS providers automatically modify records in ways that can cause verification problems:

• Converting to lowercase letters (SES requires exact matching)
• Automatically appending the domain name to records
• Not allowing underscores in DNS record names (required for DKIM)

3. Nameserver Configuration: Ensure that the nameservers listed in your domain registration match those in your DNS provider. If there's a mismatch, your DNS changes won't be authoritative.

4. Region-Specific Issues: SES identities are region-specific. Confirm you're creating and checking the identity in the same region (us-east-1).

5. Cloudflare-Specific Issues: While you mentioned your records are set to "DNS only" (not proxied), Cloudflare sometimes handles DNS records differently than other providers. You might try temporarily using a different DNS provider to rule this out.

Additional troubleshooting steps:

1. Try using a different DNS lookup tool like MXToolbox's DKIM Validator (https://mxtoolbox.com/dkim.aspx) to verify your DKIM records are resolving correctly.

2. Check if there are any conflicting records or zones for your domain.

3. If possible, try verifying a subdomain instead (e.g., mail.gigasamples.com) to see if that works.

If after trying these steps the issue persists, I recommend contacting AWS Support directly, as they can investigate account-specific issues that might be affecting the verification process.
Sources
DKIM Verification Stuck in "Pending" for domain | AWS re:Post
domain identity verification error | AWS re:Post
No CNAME propagation | AWS re:Post