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Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dyes are promising for labeling nucleic acid probes. Aptamer is one of the most appealing nucleic acid probes, and may enable to output signal response to target molecules by the direct use of single aptamer sequence. However, the concise sensing platform is often suffered from low sensitivity. In response, by the adoption of AIE dyes, we propose an intrinsic conformation response-leveraged aptamer probe (iconAptamer) for aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1) detection. The design strategy lies in the synergetic utilization of AIE and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effects. AIE dyes confer a much higher sensitivity for monitoring the response of aptamer towards AFB 1 compared to traditional DNA intercalation dyes. FRET process between AIE dyes and the terminal-labeled fluorophore would induce a distance effect in the structure-switching process, further leveraging the response signal. Consequently, the sensitivity of the aptamer probe was dramatically improved by over 2 orders. IconAptamer allowed to mix-to-read detection of AFB 1 contaminations at room temperature. The application of iconAptamer for AFB 1 detection in food and environmental samples has been demonstrated, with recovery rates of 91.8%–111.1%. IconAptamer would provide a simple, fast, convenient, and cost-effective platform for food safety control and environmental monitoring by broadening the target species. Based on aggregation-induced emission dye and FRET process for leveraging the Intrinsic conformation response of aptamer toward targets, a single-aptamer sequence-based assay was established, which enables sensitive and mix-to-read detection of aflatoxin B 1. Image 1 • A sensitive single-strand aptamer probe was built using AIE dye and FRET process. • Achieving mix-to-read analysis of aflatoxin B 1 , thus well fit for on-site detection. • Potential application for food safety control and environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]