Add it afterwards for fresh leaves
Finish baking the base, sauce and cheese according to your recipe. Transfer the pizza to a serving plate, then scatter over a few basil leaves. Residual warmth softens them slightly without exposing them to several minutes of direct oven heat. This works particularly well with margherita or pizza finished with fresh burrata.
Leave small leaves whole and tear larger ones just before adding them. Distribute the pieces so that several slices receive some basil. A dense mound in the middle is less convenient for cutting and eating than a few loosely scattered leaves.
Baking basil depends on time and heat
Some recipes add basil before launching a pizza for a very short bake in a hot pizza oven. That treats the leaves differently from a longer bake in a domestic oven. Do not transfer the timing independently of the complete recipe.
Exposed leaves can darken and dry out. If you want fresh green basil, or your pizza spends several minutes in the oven, adding it afterwards is the simpler starting point. Do not shorten the cooking time needed by the base just to protect herbs that are already on top.
Wash, dry and tear shortly before using
Choose fresh, unspoiled leaves. Wash them gently under running water and pat dry with a clean cloth. Water remaining on the leaves would otherwise add moisture to the finished topping. Prepare this small quantity before the pizza comes out of the oven.
Tear or cut shortly before use rather than crushing the herbs early and leaving them wet. A clean sharp blade works as well as careful tearing; the useful aim is to avoid unnecessary bruising rather than insisting that only one cutting method is acceptable.
Measure basil leaves and pesto separately
Individual leaves produce a different topping from basil pesto. Pesto also contributes oil and usually cheese, nuts and garlic. When using both, a few leaves and small dots of pesto on the finished pizza are often enough.
Dried basil is not an identical replacement for fresh leaves added at the end either. Use it deliberately as seasoning according to a recipe, perhaps in the sauce. Scattering a large quantity of dried herbs over a baked pizza will not produce the same texture or fresh impression.