This disclosure provides systems and methods for controlling gas turbine airfoil clearance using virtual clearance measurement. The disclosure includes a gas turbine system having a stage of airfoils and a casing adjacent the stage of airfoils that define a clearance distance between them. A clearance control mechanism controllably adjusts the clearance distance based upon a clearance control signal. The clearance control signal to the clearance control mechanism is based on a virtual clearance function that generates a clearance value from at least one system measurement of the gas turbine system.