diff --git a/cirq/__init__.py b/cirq/__init__.py
index 00b95a34a15..6d1a981fd90 100644
--- a/cirq/__init__.py
+++ b/cirq/__init__.py
@@ -419,8 +419,7 @@
     NeutralAtomDevice,
 )
 
-from cirq.vis import (
-    Heatmap,)
+from cirq.vis import (Heatmap, plot)
 
 from cirq.work import (
     CircuitSampleJob,
diff --git a/cirq/experiments/cross_entropy_benchmarking.py b/cirq/experiments/cross_entropy_benchmarking.py
index 3d2e16ec805..a858788552c 100644
--- a/cirq/experiments/cross_entropy_benchmarking.py
+++ b/cirq/experiments/cross_entropy_benchmarking.py
@@ -31,21 +31,31 @@ def data(self) -> Sequence[CrossEntropyPair]:
         return self._data
 
     def plot(self, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
-        """Plots the average XEB fidelity vs the number of cycles.
+        """Plots mean XEB fidelity vs number of cycles on a new figure.
 
         Args:
             **plot_kwargs: Arguments to be passed to 'matplotlib.pyplot.plot'.
         """
-        num_cycles = [d.num_cycle for d in self._data]
-        fidelities = [d.xeb_fidelity for d in self._data]
+        # TODO(pingyeh): deprecate this in favor of the SupportsPlot protocol.
         fig = plt.figure()
         ax = plt.gca()
-        ax.set_ylim([0, 1.1])
-        plt.plot(num_cycles, fidelities, 'ro-', figure=fig, **plot_kwargs)
-        plt.xlabel('Number of Cycles', figure=fig)
-        plt.ylabel('XEB Fidelity', figure=fig)
+        self._plot_(ax, **plot_kwargs)
         fig.show(warn=False)
 
+    def _plot_(self, ax: plt.Axes, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
+        """Plots mean XEB fidelity vs number of cycles onto ax.
+
+        Args:
+            ax: the axes to plot onto.
+            **plot_kwargs: Arguments to be passed to 'ax.plot'.
+        """
+        num_cycles = [d.num_cycle for d in self._data]
+        fidelities = [d.xeb_fidelity for d in self._data]
+        ax.set_ylim([0, 1.1])
+        ax.plot(num_cycles, fidelities, 'ro-', **plot_kwargs)
+        ax.set_xlabel('Number of Cycles')
+        ax.set_ylabel('XEB Fidelity')
+
 
 def cross_entropy_benchmarking(
         sampler: work.Sampler,
diff --git a/cirq/experiments/qubit_characterizations.py b/cirq/experiments/qubit_characterizations.py
index a4016b2fa11..b85239679a8 100644
--- a/cirq/experiments/qubit_characterizations.py
+++ b/cirq/experiments/qubit_characterizations.py
@@ -47,15 +47,27 @@ def plot(self, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
         Args:
             **plot_kwargs: Arguments to be passed to matplotlib.pyplot.plot.
         """
+        # TODO(pingyeh): deprecate this in favor of the SupportsPlot protocol.
         fig = plt.figure()
         ax = plt.gca()
-        ax.set_ylim([0, 1])
-        plt.plot(self._rabi_angles, self._excited_state_probs, 'ro-',
-                 figure=fig, **plot_kwargs)
-        plt.xlabel(r"Rabi Angle (Radian)", figure=fig)
-        plt.ylabel('Excited State Probability', figure=fig)
+        self._plot_(ax, **plot_kwargs)
         fig.show(warn=False)
 
+    def _plot_(self, ax: plt.Axes, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
+        """Plots excited state probability vs the Rabi angle onto ax.
+
+        Here the Rabi angle is the angle of rotation around the x-axis.
+
+        Args:
+            ax: the axes to plot onto.
+            **plot_kwargs: Arguments to be passed to ax.plot.
+        """
+        ax.set_ylim([0, 1])
+        ax.plot(self._rabi_angles, self._excited_state_probs, 'ro-',
+                **plot_kwargs)
+        ax.set_xlabel(r"Rabi Angle (Radian)")
+        ax.set_ylabel('Excited State Probability')
+
 
 class RandomizedBenchMarkResult:
     """Results from a randomized benchmarking experiment."""
@@ -90,13 +102,21 @@ def plot(self, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
         """
         fig = plt.figure()
         ax = plt.gca()
+        self._plot_(ax, **plot_kwargs)
+        fig.show(warn=False)
+
+    def _plot_(self, ax: plt.Axes, **plot_kwargs: Any) -> None:
+        """Plots probability(|0>) vs number of Cliffords onto ax.
+
+        Args:
+            ax: the axes to plot onto.
+            **plot_kwargs: Arguments to be passed to ax.plot.
+        """
         ax.set_ylim([0, 1])
 
-        plt.plot(self._num_cfds_seq, self._gnd_state_probs, 'ro-',
-                 figure=fig, **plot_kwargs)
-        plt.xlabel(r"Number of Cliffords", figure=fig)
-        plt.ylabel('Ground State Probability', figure=fig)
-        fig.show(warn=False)
+        ax.plot(self._num_cfds_seq, self._gnd_state_probs, 'ro-', **plot_kwargs)
+        ax.set_xlabel(r"Number of Cliffords")
+        ax.set_ylabel('Ground State Probability')
 
 
 class TomographyResult:
@@ -120,6 +140,7 @@ def plot(self) -> None:
         """Plots the real and imaginary parts of the density matrix as two
         3D bar plots.
         """
+        # TODO(pingyeh): convert this into _plot_().
         fig = _plot_density_matrix(self._density_matrix)
         fig.show(warn=False)
 
diff --git a/cirq/vis/__init__.py b/cirq/vis/__init__.py
index 448785026fd..399628a4468 100644
--- a/cirq/vis/__init__.py
+++ b/cirq/vis/__init__.py
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from cirq.vis.heatmap import Heatmap
+from cirq.vis.plot import plot
diff --git a/cirq/vis/examples/bristlecone_heatmap_example.py b/cirq/vis/examples/bristlecone_heatmap_example.py
index 2ed21a4ffdf..7e6e8ef1140 100644
--- a/cirq/vis/examples/bristlecone_heatmap_example.py
+++ b/cirq/vis/examples/bristlecone_heatmap_example.py
@@ -10,9 +10,7 @@ def main():
                  for qubit in cirq.google.known_devices.Bristlecone.qubits}
 
     heatmap = cirq.Heatmap(value_map)
-    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(9, 9))
-    heatmap.plot(ax)
-    fig.show(warn=False)
+    cirq.plot(heatmap)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/cirq/vis/heatmap.py b/cirq/vis/heatmap.py
index 1553233c1e0..e8f2d56e32c 100644
--- a/cirq/vis/heatmap.py
+++ b/cirq/vis/heatmap.py
@@ -253,6 +253,9 @@ def plot(self, ax: plt.Axes, **pcolor_options: Any
 
         return mesh, value_table
 
+    def _plot_(self, ax: plt.Axes, **pcolor_options: Any) -> None:
+        self.plot(ax, **pcolor_options)
+
     def _plot_colorbar(self, mappable: mpl.cm.ScalarMappable,
                        ax: plt.Axes) -> mpl.colorbar.Colorbar:
         """Plots the colorbar. Internal."""
diff --git a/cirq/vis/plot.py b/cirq/vis/plot.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8178adeceac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cirq/vis/plot.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+from typing import Any, Optional
+
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+from typing_extensions import Protocol
+
+
+class SupportsPlot(Protocol):
+    """A class of objects that knows how to plot itself to an axes."""
+
+    def _plot_(self, ax: plt.Axes, **kwargs) -> Any:
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+
+def plot(obj: SupportsPlot, ax: Optional[plt.Axes] = None, **kwargs) -> Any:
+    """Plots an object to a given Axes or a new Axes and show it.
+
+    Args:
+        obj: an object with a _plot_() method that knows how to plot itself
+            to an axes.
+        ax: if given, plot onto it. Otherwise, create a new Axes.
+        kwargs: additional arguments passed to obj._plot_().
+    Returns:
+        A 2-tuple:
+          - The Axes that's plotted on.
+          - The return value of obj._plot_().
+    """
+    if ax is None:
+        _, ax = plt.subplots(1, 1, figsize=(10, 10))
+    result = obj._plot_(ax, **kwargs)
+    ax.get_figure().show(warn=False)
+    return ax, result