Archimedean Distinguished Representations and Exceptional Poles

Let $F$ be an archimedean local field and let $E$ be $F\times F$ (resp. a quadratic extension of $F$). We prove that an irreducible generic (resp. nearly tempered) representation of $\operatorname{GL}_n(E)$ is $\operatorname{GL}_n(F)$ distinguished if and only if its Rankin-Selberg (resp. Asai) $L$-function has an exceptional pole of level zero at $0$. Further, we deduce a necessary condition for the ramification of such representations using the theory of weak test vectors developed by Humphries and Jo.