Every guide in Compass has a visibility setting that determines who can view it. There are four levels, from most restrictive to most open: Private, Team, Client, and Public. This guide explains what each one means and when to use it.
The Four Visibility Levels
Private
Only you (the author) can view it.
Doesn't appear in your team's shared library
Doesn't appear on your public site
No URL works for anyone else
Use Private for drafts you're not ready to share, personal notes, or sensitive content (negotiation notes, private SOPs you don't want even teammates to see).
Team
Anyone signed in to your Compass organization can view it.
Appears in your team's shared library
Doesn't appear on your public site
No public URL — staff sign-in required to view
Use Team for internal SOPs, training material, advisor-only research, supplier notes you don't want clients seeing, anything operational.
Client
Anyone with the link can view it without signing in.
But the guide does NOT appear in the public index
Doesn't get indexed by search engines (we set
noindexheaders)Best for: sharing a specific guide with a specific client without exposing it publicly
Use Client for unlisted content you want to share via direct link — a custom itinerary for one trip, a pricing breakdown for one client, a destination guide you don't want competitors finding via Google.
Public
Visible to everyone, indexed by search engines.
Appears in your public resource center
Appears in your sitemap (search engines actively discovered it)
Best for: marketing content, broad destination guides, content you want strangers to find via Google
Use Public for content where discovery is a goal — destination guides for SEO, "free tips" you want to attract new prospects with, or anything you want to show off as evidence of your expertise.
Changing Visibility
In the editor, the visibility setting is in the right-hand panel under Visibility. Pick one, save — the change takes effect immediately. You can change visibility any time without losing the guide's URL or analytics.
Sharing a Link
Top-right of the editor: click the Share button to copy a link.
Public guides — get a shareable URL on your public site domain (e.g.
compass.urtravelpro.com/p/youragency/your-slug)Client guides — same URL format; the link works for anyone without a login
Team guides — URL works only for signed-in teammates
Private guides — there's no shareable URL; only you can open it
Email Gating
You can optionally require viewers to enter an email address before reading a Client or Public guide. This captures leads from anyone who opens your shared guides — useful for lead generation. Email gating is set per-guide in the right-hand panel.
Sitemap & SEO
Public guides appear in your sitemap and are indexed by Google
Client guides have
noindexheaders — they won't appear in search results even if someone tries to discover themTeam and Private guides never reach search engines (you must sign in to even see them)
You can disable sitemap inclusion at the org level in Settings → Sitemap if you want to keep your entire public site out of search engines (e.g., during early access).