diff --git a/src/app/benchmarks/[slug]/page.tsx b/src/app/benchmarks/[slug]/page.tsx
index eca94b4d..108c13cd 100644
--- a/src/app/benchmarks/[slug]/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/benchmarks/[slug]/page.tsx
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@ import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
 import Link from "next/link";
 import { ArrowLeft, ArrowUpRight, ChevronDown } from "lucide-react";
 import {
-  formatLastRun,
   getBenchmark,
   getBenchmarks,
   getBenchmarkSlugs,
 } from "@/data/benchmarks";
 import { Pill } from "@/components/pill";
 import { BenchmarkBody } from "@/components/benchmark-body";
+import { LiveIndicator } from "@/components/live-indicator";
 import { SectionLabel } from "@/components/summary-stat";
 import { CATEGORY_COLOR } from "@/lib/category-colors";
 import { SITE } from "@/data/site";
@@ -123,14 +123,16 @@ export default async function BenchmarkPage({
       </Link>
 
       {/* Bench identifier — minimal mono line, no SaaS-style pills. */}
-      <div className="mt-6 flex flex-wrap items-baseline gap-3 font-mono text-[11px] uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-ink-muted">
+      <div className="mt-6 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-3 font-mono text-[11px] uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-ink-muted">
         <span style={{ color: catColor ?? "var(--color-ink-soft)" }}>
           {benchmark.category}
         </span>
         {isDraft && <span className="text-ink-faint">draft</span>}
-        <span className="ml-auto tabular text-ink-muted normal-case tracking-normal text-xs">
-          Updated {formatLastRun(benchmark.lastRunAt)}
-        </span>
+        {!isDraft && (
+          <span className="ml-auto">
+            <LiveIndicator lastRunAt={benchmark.lastRunAt} />
+          </span>
+        )}
       </div>
 
       {/* Title */}
diff --git a/src/components/benchmark-body.tsx b/src/components/benchmark-body.tsx
index dc08675d..7bc0c0f5 100644
--- a/src/components/benchmark-body.tsx
+++ b/src/components/benchmark-body.tsx
@@ -56,11 +56,21 @@ export function BenchmarkBody({
 
   return (
     <>
-      {options.length > 0 && (
-        <div className="mt-8">
+      <div className="mt-8 flex flex-wrap items-center justify-between gap-3">
+        {options.length > 0 ? (
           <ChainTabs options={options} selected={chain} onSelect={setChain} />
-        </div>
-      )}
+        ) : (
+          <span />
+        )}
+        {!isDraft && (
+          <ShareSection
+            slug={benchmark.slug}
+            title={benchmark.title}
+            benchmark={benchmark}
+            chain={chain}
+          />
+        )}
+      </div>
 
       {!isDraft && benchmark.unit === "count" && (
         <>
@@ -69,14 +79,6 @@ export function BenchmarkBody({
             <SectionLabel>Provider ledger</SectionLabel>
             <LedgerTable benchmark={benchmark} />
           </div>
-          <div className="mt-10">
-            <ShareSection
-              slug={benchmark.slug}
-              title={benchmark.title}
-              benchmark={benchmark}
-              chain={chain}
-            />
-          </div>
         </>
       )}
 
@@ -112,7 +114,6 @@ export function BenchmarkBody({
           </dl>
 
           <div className="mt-12">
-            <SectionLabel>{benchmark.metric} · last 24 hours</SectionLabel>
             {benchmark.results.length >= 5 || benchmark.unit === "bps" ? (
               <RankedBarChart benchmark={benchmark} />
             ) : (
@@ -131,15 +132,6 @@ export function BenchmarkBody({
               <RegionGrid benchmark={benchmark} />
             </div>
           )}
-
-          <div className="mt-10">
-            <ShareSection
-              slug={benchmark.slug}
-              title={benchmark.title}
-              benchmark={benchmark}
-              chain={chain}
-            />
-          </div>
         </>
       )}
     </>
diff --git a/src/components/live-dot.tsx b/src/components/live-dot.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ec74e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/live-dot.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/**
+ * Tiny pulsing green dot used inline in section labels to signal that
+ * the surrounding figure reflects live data. Discreet by design — when
+ * paired with the masthead `LiveIndicator`, this is just visual reinforcement.
+ */
+export function LiveDot({ className = "" }: { className?: string }) {
+  return (
+    <span
+      className={`relative inline-flex h-1.5 w-1.5 items-center justify-center align-middle ${className}`}
+      aria-hidden
+    >
+      <span className="absolute inset-0 rounded-full bg-good opacity-60 animate-ping" />
+      <span className="relative h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full bg-good" />
+    </span>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/components/live-indicator.tsx b/src/components/live-indicator.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19c5fd1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/live-indicator.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+
+/**
+ * Real-time freshness indicator for a bench: a pulsing green dot plus a
+ * "Live · updated Ns ago" counter that ticks client-side every second.
+ * Falls back to a muted "Stale" state if `lastRunAt` is older than 5 min,
+ * which usually means the harness is down or ISR is wedged — better to
+ * show staleness than to lie about freshness.
+ */
+export function LiveIndicator({ lastRunAt }: { lastRunAt: string }) {
+  const [now, setNow] = useState(() => Date.now());
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const id = setInterval(() => setNow(Date.now()), 1000);
+    return () => clearInterval(id);
+  }, []);
+
+  const ageSec = Math.max(0, Math.floor((now - new Date(lastRunAt).getTime()) / 1000));
+  const stale = ageSec > 300;
+
+  return (
+    <span className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 normal-case tracking-normal text-xs tabular text-ink-muted">
+      <span className="relative flex h-2 w-2 items-center justify-center">
+        {!stale && (
+          <span
+            className="absolute inset-0 rounded-full bg-good opacity-60 animate-ping"
+            aria-hidden
+          />
+        )}
+        <span
+          className={`relative h-2 w-2 rounded-full ${stale ? "bg-ink-faint" : "bg-good"}`}
+          aria-hidden
+        />
+      </span>
+      <span className="font-medium" style={{ color: stale ? undefined : "var(--color-good)" }}>
+        {stale ? "Stale" : "Live"}
+      </span>
+      <span className="text-ink-faint">·</span>
+      <span>updated {formatAge(ageSec)} ago</span>
+    </span>
+  );
+}
+
+function formatAge(sec: number): string {
+  if (sec < 60) return `${sec}s`;
+  const min = Math.floor(sec / 60);
+  if (min < 60) return `${min}m`;
+  const h = Math.floor(min / 60);
+  if (h < 24) return `${h}h`;
+  return `${Math.floor(h / 24)}d`;
+}
diff --git a/src/components/ranked-bar-chart.tsx b/src/components/ranked-bar-chart.tsx
index 5f96812e..c75e8cef 100644
--- a/src/components/ranked-bar-chart.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ranked-bar-chart.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useMemo } from "react";
 import type { Benchmark } from "@/types/benchmark";
 import { fmtUnit } from "@/lib/format";
 import { buildProviderColors } from "@/lib/series-colors";
+import { LiveDot } from "@/components/live-dot";
 
 type Props = { benchmark: Benchmark };
 
@@ -45,6 +46,10 @@ export function RankedBarChart({ benchmark }: Props) {
 
   return (
     <figure className="my-2">
+      <p className="mb-3 inline-flex items-center gap-2 text-[10px] font-medium uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-ink-muted">
+        <LiveDot />
+        <span>{benchmark.metric} · last 24 hours</span>
+      </p>
       <ul className="space-y-2">
         {rows.map((r, idx) => {
           const w = project(r.value);
diff --git a/src/components/share-section.tsx b/src/components/share-section.tsx
index 37fa8e6e..550decd6 100644
--- a/src/components/share-section.tsx
+++ b/src/components/share-section.tsx
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ export function ShareSection({ slug, title, benchmark, chain }: Props) {
     <>
       <button
         onClick={() => setOpen(true)}
-        className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-ink bg-paper px-3.5 py-2 text-[11px] font-medium uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-ink hover:bg-ink hover:text-paper transition-colors"
+        className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-ink bg-ink px-3.5 py-2 text-[11px] font-medium uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-paper hover:bg-paper hover:text-ink transition-colors shadow-sm"
       >
         <ImageIcon size={14} strokeWidth={2} />
         Export as image
diff --git a/src/components/time-series-chart.tsx b/src/components/time-series-chart.tsx
index c79fb667..846e081e 100644
--- a/src/components/time-series-chart.tsx
+++ b/src/components/time-series-chart.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import type { Benchmark } from "@/types/benchmark";
 import { fmtUnit } from "@/lib/format";
 import { buildProviderColors } from "@/lib/series-colors";
+import { LiveDot } from "@/components/live-dot";
 
 type Props = {
   benchmark: Benchmark;
@@ -19,6 +20,13 @@ const RANGE_HOURS: Record<Range, number> = {
   "7d": 168,
 };
 
+const RANGE_LABEL: Record<Range, string> = {
+  "1h": "last hour",
+  "6h": "last 6 hours",
+  "24h": "last 24 hours",
+  "7d": "last 7 days",
+};
+
 const REGION_LABEL: Record<string, string> = {
   "us-east": "US-East",
   "eu-west": "EU-West",
@@ -70,6 +78,12 @@ export function TimeSeriesChart({ benchmark }: Props) {
 
   return (
     <figure className="my-2">
+      <p className="mb-3 inline-flex items-center gap-2 text-[10px] font-medium uppercase tracking-[0.18em] text-ink-muted">
+        <LiveDot />
+        <span>
+          {benchmark.metric} · {RANGE_LABEL[range]}
+        </span>
+      </p>
       <div className="mb-4 flex flex-wrap items-center justify-between gap-3">
         <div className="flex items-center gap-1">
           {RANGES.map((r) => {
diff --git a/src/data/benchmarks.ts b/src/data/benchmarks.ts
index a2416945..6c2e1788 100644
--- a/src/data/benchmarks.ts
+++ b/src/data/benchmarks.ts
@@ -67,16 +67,3 @@ export async function getBenchmarkSlugs(): Promise<string[]> {
   }
 }
 
-export function formatLastRun(iso: string) {
-  const d = new Date(iso);
-  return d.toLocaleString("en-US", {
-    month: "short",
-    day: "numeric",
-    year: "numeric",
-    hour: "numeric",
-    minute: "2-digit",
-    timeZone: "UTC",
-    timeZoneName: "short",
-  });
-}
-