«وَالْمُرَادُ بِاللِّقَاءِ مَا هُوَ أَعَمُّ مِنَ الْمُجَالَسَةِ وَالْمُمَاشَاةِ»
The required meeting is wider than sitting together or walking in one another’s company.
Reaching the Prophet ﷺ, seeing him, or being seen by him may establish the relevant encounter, provided the religious conditions are met. Hence a brief genuine encounter is not excluded merely because the individual did not converse at length, become a regular student, or spend extended time with him.
Example: Someone sees the Prophet once while believing in him and later dies as a Muslim. Neither narrating a hadith nor lengthy formal study is an additional condition for Companion status. Whether the particular encounter actually occurred is, of course, a separate evidentiary question.