It has been shown that interaction methods such as body language and gestures in socially assistive robots (SAR) contribute to engagement, attention, and entertainment value. Studies in social cognition emphasize the significance of body language for facilitating interaction in social exchanges. Inspired by these results, an independent group experiment (N=45) was designed to investigate how body language, as an interaction method in SAR, affects perceived social presence. Participants engaged in semi-structured conversations with the social robot Pepper, equipped with a ChatGPT-based dialogue system with, or without, body language. Perceived social presence was retrieved through the Almere questionnaire. Contrary to our hypothesis, the results did not show any significant differences in perceived social presence. Detailed analysis did however show that the interactive condition enhanced the feeling of being seen and tended to make the robot more entertaining. The lack of support for the hypothesis suggests that the robot's body language might be less significant than previously thought, possibly due to method and design factors, as well as the robot's advanced dialogue system. This study highlights the potential of large language models for SAR and could indicate that some aspects of the robot’s design might overshadow other aspects.