There is no magic threshold
SEO discussions often quote exact-match limits such as 5%, 10% or 20%, but these are heuristics rather than universal search-engine rules. Different industries and page types naturally produce different anchor mixes.
A homepage, product page and research study should not be expected to attract the same wording.
Repetition is the real warning sign
If many unrelated sites independently link using the exact same commercial phrase, the pattern can look engineered. The problem is not that exact-match anchors exist; it is that they dominate in a way normal editorial writing would not produce.
One relevant exact-match anchor inside a strong article is very different from fifty purchased copies of the same phrase.
Judge the source and context together
A link from a relevant article with natural surrounding text is easier to justify than an exact-match link inserted into an unrelated paragraph. Source quality, page topic and acquisition method all affect how the anchor should be evaluated.
Anchor text should never be reviewed in isolation.
Use descriptive variation instead of percentage engineering
Branded, URL, page-title and partial descriptive anchors usually arise naturally when different writers reference the same site. Allow that diversity instead of trying to hit a spreadsheet ratio.
For guest posts, give editors a preferred meaning rather than forcing identical wording.
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