Abstract Data-Driven State Estimation (DDSE) is characterized by low measurement requirements and high estimation accuracy, which provides the possibility of stable and efficient estimation for unobservable distribution systems with low measurement quantities. However, the lack of an efficient and flexible sensor placement method with DDSE at this stage hinders the development and application of DDSE in distribution networks. To address this issue, a data-driven parallel optimization method for sensor placement and state estimation based on the generative adversarial principle in unobservable systems is proposed in this paper. This method transforms sensor placement and state estimation into an adversarial learning model, solvable through gradient descent. The sensor placement optimization strategy generates a cost-effective placement scheme, while DDSE evaluates the sensor scheme, provides improvement suggestions, and enhances its estimation accuracy. Through adversarial training, the proposed scheme yields a significantly reduced number of sensor placement schemes compared to traditional methods, while maintaining high precision of DDSE. Simulation results on the IEEE-33 node system validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.