Hijacking the top comment here.

A few months ago there was a girl I knew (a friend of a friend) that was complaining about not having any friends so I comforted her saying that we were friends and she replied with "I don't even consider you as my friend" with a weirded out look, and that put us both in a very awkward situation. If you don't see anybody as your friend, then no one will see you as one.

Similarly there were many times in my life when acquaintances would come up to me to say something like "being friends with you is..." even though I only considered them people I talked to once in a while. The considerate thing to do is match the other person's energy level, while at the same time respecting your own personal boundaries so I would always agree that I see them as a friend.