The short answer
Your Compass agent page is the right landing spot for almost every ad
Your Compass agent page, for almost every ad you run. It holds every current listing, your full sold history, and you, so the click keeps working no matter which part of the ad caught someone's eye. A single listing page only makes sense when the ad is about that one property and the goal is that property's buyer. An outside personal site earns the click only if you genuinely keep it current.
Where most Compass agents send their ad clicks
Your Compass agent page, for nearly every ad you run. It's the one address that holds every current listing, your full sold history, and you, the actual agent, all in one place. That matters because an ad rarely stays about just one thing. Someone might notice the property photo, someone else might notice your name, someone else scrolls straight to your sold list. Whatever caught their eye, sending them to your agent page means the click still works. There's no dead end, no page that only covers part of the story.
That's also why it's the choice most ads default to: it's the one landing spot that never goes stale. Your listings change, your page changes with them. You close a sale, and it shows up in your history without you touching anything.
When a listing ad should link to the listing itself
A listing page is the right call only when the ad is about one property and the goal is that property's buyer. If you're running a listing ad built around a single address, its photos, and its price, the person who clicks should land right there, not on a general page they have to search through. Match the ad to the click and the click to the page. That's the one case where the agent page is the wrong choice, because it buries the exact thing the ad promised.
When your own website is the right answer
Rarely, and only if you keep it current. An outside personal site can work as a landing spot, but only if it's genuinely maintained: updated listings, current sold history, a bio that reflects where you are now. A site that still shows an old headshot or a listing that closed a while back does the opposite of what an ad is for, it makes you look out of date the moment someone clicks. If you're not updating your own site regularly, send the click to your Compass agent page instead. It handles the upkeep for you.
Should my ad link to my Compass agent page or a listing page?
Your Compass agent page, unless the ad is about one specific property. A listing page works when the whole point of the click is that one house and that one buyer. But most ads mix things together, a listing photo one week, a sold sign the next, your name across all of it. The agent page holds it all in one spot. One page, every listing, no dead ends.
When does a listing page make more sense than the agent page?
When the ad is about a single property and nothing else. If you're running a listing ad for one address, the click should land right on that address, with the photos, the price, and a way to reach out. Send that same click to your general agent page and you've made the buyer hunt for the thing they just saw. Match the click to the property.
Should I link my ads to my own website instead of Compass?
Only if your own site is genuinely kept current. A personal site still showing a listing from months back, or a headshot from years ago, does more harm than good. Your Compass agent page updates itself as your listings and sold history change, so there's nothing to forget. An outdated site costs you the click.