It is pretty simple really. We sit down together on a 12 step call. The recovered alcoholic follows some general direction form the book, sharing his experience with the illness, to see if the prospect identifies. They get talking. They take a look at the big book key definitions of alcoholism, loss of control, and choice, doctors opinion etc, and see if the prospect identifies. A few simple yes / no answers to the question " is this your experience" helps the newcomer determine if this is something they identify with.
Meanwhile the 12 stepper is forming a view as to whether the person is a real alcoholic. You'll find this direction on page 92 I think. If the two relate and are happy they are on the right track the 12 stepper will explain the program, meetings etc, and it goes from there. If the person does not identify and does not appear to be alcoholic, the 12 stepper may still help them find the kind of help they need for whatever their problem is.
That's how I was introduced to AA. That's what AA is, a spiritual program of action for the real alcoholic, and it does not claim anything else. The clear distinction between the problem drinker and the real alcoholic is that the problem drinker can stop or moderate.
The A
alcoholic does not have to be at the "end of the road" to qualify. The literature refers to helping people who were scarecly more than potential alcoholics, by bringing the bottom up to hit them. That really involves detecting the loss of control and choice, which begins to happen long before skid row appears.
A medical expert recently stated that the only effective solution for the extreme aud sufferers ( real alcoholics including those in earlier stages of the disease) is some kind of conversion experience, which AA does via the 12 steps. Other folks with milder forms of aud do not need this, and because they don't need it, they often dangerously assume nobody else needs it. They have a different message to the AA message because they have different experience.